How To Fly With Clipped Wings
by Duchess Frost
Summary: "You can't play volleyball anymore." To which she replied, "Watch me." The accident that destroyed her dreams is what forces Kageyama's cousin to transfer to Karasuno. Between family, school, and health problems, she's got a lot on her plate- but she's determined to do whatever it takes to make sure she can fly again, even if she has to manage a crazy volleyball team along the way.
1. The Beginning

"Hey, what's this?"

Kageyama Tobio, second grade, rummaged through a large toy box on the deck of the backyard. Because he wasn't very tall, he was forced to stand on his tip toes and reach into the bin, his dark hair falling in his eyes. He frowned as he tried to reach down, wishing his arms were just a bit longer. His family was inside the house, sipping tea and discussing things that bored him out of his mind. They had sent the kids, he and his cousin, outside to play.

"What's what?" Mikaela Kaisha, a girl with looks identical to Kageyama's, leaned over next to him. With raven black hair and dark blue eyes, the two looked like they could've been twins. However, they were only cousins. Close cousins, but still only cousins.

Kageyama tugged out a ball that was as big as his head. It was black, yellow, and white, and soft to touch. "It's a volleyball," he said in awe. "I didn't know you had one."

"A volleyball!" Mikaela exclaimed excitedly, her dark eyes lighting up. "It's Papa's. He said he used to play."

"Miwa never lets me use hers," Kageyama said, referring to his older sister. "It's just a ball. Do you know how to play?"

His cousin frowned. "I dunno. Papa didn't tell me a lot. But he showed me how to hit it. Wanna try?"

Kageyama nodded, his eyes widening. "Sure. How do you hit it?"

"Something like this!" she exclaimed excitedly, making a triangle with her hands. "He told me, you make a triangle with your hands, and when the ball comes to you, push it off your finger tips. And you can't bend your elbows a lot."

"Let me try," he said, smiling. Mikaela tossed it high, and the ball came down, broke through the triangle Kageyama had made with his hands, and smacked him in the face.

Mikaela Kaisha burst out laughing, tumbling back onto the grass, laughing so hard her stomach hurt. Kageyama frowned angrily and stomped his foot. "That was my first time," he scowled, kicking the grass with his sneaker. "Don't laugh at me!" But it was impossible not to laugh. Mikaela inhaled sharply and stood up, smiling.

"Sorry," she giggled.

"Try again," he ordered.

And that was where it all began.

* * *

Mikaela started looking forward to the times when Kageyama's family and her own would get together for family gatherings. About once or twice a month. Instead of being bored like she used to before, she looked forwards to hanging out with her quiet cousin. She and Kageyama took her father's volleyball outside to play with every time. But they both owned their own volleyball now, and just practiced hitting it back and forth.

Their grandfather noticed their interest, and one day, took them to see a volleyball game. The two children were in complete and total awe at the way the ball went back and forth, down and up. Three touches before it went over the net. Serves. Spikes. Everything. The players were only in Junior High, but to Kageyama and Mikaela, they were so big and so spectacular. Kageyama took trips down to the gym when his older sister was practicing, and Mikaela was so jealous that she dragged her father out into the yard to practice with her in Kageyama's place.

Then came grade three.

After the match they went to see, they kept practicing together, and at school. There was a club for young volleyball learners, because they were much too young to be on a team. They learned how to underhand serve, work on a court with more people, and pass around a few times.

Kageyama took a liking to the setter position a year later. He no longer messed up the pass they had learned so long ago. Mikaela would pass it to him, and he would volley it, and Mikaela would make some sort of spike. Spiking was what she loved, the way the ball plummeted straight down and hit the ground. The sense of power that she got from hitting it.

"You'll be the best setter ever," she exclaimed one day when they were practicing. "And I'll be the best spiker!"

"You can't even spike yet!" he protested. "I'm not going to set it for you if you can't spike it!"

Mikaela pouted. "Well, you can't even set very well!"

"Hey! I so can!"

"You can set just as well as I can spike!"

"No, my setting is better!"

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

* * *

Then came Junior High.

The pair had always gone to the same school, always been best friends. That didn't change. So here they were, at Kitagawa Daiichi. And they were both thrilled, because now, they could play in official games, with strong people. Mikaela immediately tried out for the team on the same day that Kageyama did. "My name is Mikaela Kaisha," she said proudly. "I've been playing volleyball since second grade."

"Second grade," the tallest girl on the team mused, smiling. "So you've been playing for a while."

Mikaela nodded vigorously. "Yep! I really like volleyball!"

"What position do you play?" asked another tall girl with silver hair.

She shrugged, thinking about it for a minute. "I think I'm a... wing spiker."

"You think?" she questioned with a smirk.

The black-haired girl squirmed under their gaze. "It's all I've really tried, I guess."

"Have you tried setting?" a shorter girl with brown hair and a big nose asked.

Mikaela giggled nervously. "I tried, but I'm no good at that. My cousin's much better than I am."

"Well," said the tall girl, clapping her hands. "Let's do a practice game and figure out what you're good at, okay?"

The girls' team had lots of talent. There were two other girls her age besides herself, who both wanted to be on the team. Mikaela squirmed. _I have to do well if I want to play in matches. I have to do well if I want to be on the court._ But the game went on and she really didn't do much, and what she did do, she messed up on. She was out of place for blocking, and could barely jump to reach the top of the tall net. Her attempt at an underhand serve hit the net and fell. She had even been set to once, but the set threw her off- it was nothing like Kageyama's- and she fumbled it. Her receives were solid enough, but that was it.

Mikaela's cheeks were bright red. She was in the back row now, and being glared down by one of the girl that was going to serve on the other side. _She's going to serve to me._ The server narrowed her eyes at Mikaela, and Mikaela felt butterflies in her stomach. _Oh no, oh no-_ _I can't do this. I can't do this. I can't-_

The server tossed the ball up and hit it- hard. The volleyball rocketed across the court, over the net, and dropped right in front of Mikaela's waiting arms.

 _Crap!-_

She dove, skidding across the ground, and felt the volleyball smack of her arms and soar into the air. She would've stared at the ball in awe- that receive was the best one she'd done all day- but she had only hit the ball straight up and she needed to move. Mikaela rolled- some sort of backwards somersault, she guessed- out of the way, which gave the setter on her team plenty of time to set the ball up to one of their spikers. "Great receive!" someone called, and she beamed.

But the rally wasn't quite over- the other side received the ball and prepared to spike it back. The girls in the front row set up to block the spike, and Mikaela readied herself to receive.

The triple block must've been menacing, because she actually _watched_ the spiker shift her form in midair. _It's a tip!_ She lunged forwards as the ball was tipped over the blockers and bumped it to the setter again. This time, their hitter scored the point.

"Nice receive," the setter said, smiling at her. Mikaela smiled so wide that her face hurt. "Next rally!"

She rotated to the back left corner of the court. Damn, she just wanted to get back into the front row so she could spike...

But as luck would have it, the other side got a clean receive off the serve and set up to spike the ball. Mikaela positioned herself to receive the line shot, but the ball hit off the blockers' hands and went flying.

 _The ball isn't dead yet-_

She bolted, running out of the court and towards the bench-

 _It hasn't hit the ground yet-_

Mikaela leaped forwards, diving, anything to get her hands under the ball. She got one fist under the volleyball and swung up with all her might. The ball hit her hand and flew through the air, allowing one of the girls on her team to hit the ball over the net and score the point, signalling the end of the set. They won.

"Awesome save!" one of the girls cheered, and Mikaela's heart swelled when the team captain came over to help her up. Behind the captain, the girls started taking down the net and gathering the volleyballs. She held out a hand. "That was an amazing read and a great receive," she complimented.

"T- Thank you!" she stammered, stumbling to her feet.

"How'd you like a spot on the starting line up?" she continued. "We have a position we need filled."

She couldn't even find words to express her happiness. "Y- Yes! Yes please! Thank you! Oh my god, thank you! I won't let you down!"

The captain grinned at her. "I know you won't. You'll be a great libero."

Her smile faltered.

"...A what?"

* * *

It was when Kageyama and Mikaela were walking home together that same day did Mikaela finally tell someone what she was feeling. "How'd volleyball go?" she asked her cousin, hefting her bag over one shoulder.

Kageyama grinned. "It was great! Everyone's really good. There's one guy named Oikawa-san who has a really, really good serve. I think I'm going to ask him to teach me." He looked over at her. "How about you?"

"They want me to be a libero," Mikaela replied miserably.

"What?!" he cried in surprise. "But you- but you love spiking! And you're good at it! And liberos aren't allowed offensive plays!"

"I know," she moaned, groaning up to the sky. "But... I messed up on everything else. And then I made a bunch of good receives, and a really good save." Mikaela perked up. "It was great, and we got the point to win the set. But... it was so good that the team captain decided I should be a defensive specialist." She sighed in defeat. "But if I want to get on the court, I guess I'm going to have to be a libero."

Kageyama was silent for a minute. "Do you want to be a libero?" he asked finally.

Mikaela shrugged. "I love saving the ball, but you can do that from any position. And I'm not very good at passing it back to the setter." She huffed. "I want to spike it."

"Then we'll keep practicing," he assured her, "and you'll tell your captain one day what you want to do."

The black-haired girl blinked and latched onto Kageyama in a bear hug, burying her face in his shoulder. The boy made a noise that sounded kind of like a squeak. "Hey! Get off me!" Mikaela laughed, grinning.

"Thanks, Tobio. I needed that."

"...Whatever."

Mikaela grinned.

* * *

It was halfway through the school year when Kageyama asked Mikaela if she wanted to watch one of his practice matches. "I'd love to!" she cried, jumping up and down excitedly. "I want to watch this Oikawa-senpai you were talking about!"

"I probably won't go on the court, though," Kageyama huffed.

Mikaela blinked. "It's a practice game. And if your team is as good as you say it is, they'll probably let you play because they'll have a big lead!"

"Are you saying I'm not good enough?" Kageyama demanded, frowning at her.

His cousin shook her head, a teasing smile forming across her face. "No, I'm just saying there are people _better._ "

Mikaela sat up on the stage as the Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High boys' volleyball team faced off against another school. She immediately spotted Oikawa, with fluffy brown hair and a jersey with the number 1 on the back and front. _I can't wait to watch him play._ But she was severely disappointed. The boy Kageyama looked up to so much missed many sets, botched a few serves, and continuously fumbled the ball. The team was losing. Mikaela was confused. "I thought he was better than that," she mumbled to herself.

And then the coach sent Kageyama in for Oikawa.

She was practically jumping around with glee. Kageyama was going in! He was going to play! She watched as he set the ball perfectly to all the players, and the huge smile he had on his face. He just loved the thrill of being on the court, and Mikaela felt the exact same way.

When the practice match was over, Mikaela immediately went to congratulate Kageyama as the team was dismissed, on the steps outside the gym doors. "You did so good!" she nearly yelled, wrapping her sweaty cousin in a hug before quickly letting go.

Kageyama grinned, drinking his water faster than normal. He was tired. "That was great," he admitted, smiling broadly. "Thanks for coming."

Mikaela beamed. "Happy to come! That was great!"

"It was fun," he said as an afterthought. She laughed.

Then, Mikaela frowned. "Hey, Tobio?" she asked cautiously.

Kageyama stopped his water-guzzling and looked up. "Hmm?"

"What was the ace's name?"

"He's Iwaizumi-san," Kageyama replied, frowning. "Why?"

Mikaela kicked her shoe against the ground. "Do you think... Do you think it would be a bad idea to ask him to teach me how to spike?"

Her cousin blinked at her, before shrugging. "I've asked Oikawa-san to teach me how to serve a few times, but he keeps saying no. But I think Iwaizumi-san is a bit nicer. Maybe he'll teach you."

"I'm going to ask," she decided. _I'm going to prove to my captain that I can and will spike. I'll have the best spike on the team! And Iwaizumi-san was really good. Maybe he can teach me._ She cut herself out of her thoughts. "Are you going to ask Oikawa-san again?"

Kageyama nodded. "He and Iwaizumi-san are good friends, I think. Maybe he'll be there."

Mikaela eagerly followed Kageyama back into the gym. Sure enough, the captain was there, hitting serves across the net with such power that she could barely believe it. Kageyama picked a discarded volleyball off the ground. Mikaela unzipped her jacket and looked around the gym, frowning. Iwaizumi wasn't there. She sighed.

She saw Kageyama approach Oikawa, and suddenly, she felt scared. Oikawa didn't look very calm or composed, mostly angry and tired. Now probably wasn't the best time. Mikaela started walking over as Kageyama asked, "Oikawa-san, please teach me how to serve."

The captain looked up with such anger and frustration that Mikaela closed the distance between them as quick as possible. She saw Oikawa's hand pull up. He was ready to hit Kageyama.

Mikaela grabbed Kageyama's shoulders and pulled him backwards.

At the same time, someone stepped in and grabbed Oikawa's arm before he could complete the swing.

"Calm down, dumbass!" barked the mysterious savior. Mikaela recognized him. Iwaizumi, Kitagawa Daiichi's ace.

Oikawa muttered an apology, shaking his head, and Iwaizumi turned to Kageyama. "That's enough for today." Kageyama nodded slowly. Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes. "Who's she?"

Kageyama blinked. "Oh, this is Mikaela Kaisha. She's my cousin and she plays on the girls' team."

"I see," Iwaizumi said absentmindedly, no longer caring. "Now, go home."

 _Now probably wasn't the best time to ask._

Mikaela and Kageyama went home.

* * *

"You're still going to ask Oikawa-san for serving help."

"Of course," Kageyama said instantly. "His serves are really good."

Mikaela sighed, "and you don't care that he tried to hit you?"

"Not really," the boy admitted, shrugging.

He half expected Mikaela to burst, screaming that he was an idiot, but instead she just rolled her eyes. "Fine. Go ahead! But if he does try to hit you again, you're not allowed to ask anymore, okay?"

"Deal," he replied earnestly. Mikaela grinned.

Practices went worse than usual today. Mikaela, for her libero training, received all kinds of strange serves that took her a while to get used to. But she couldn't get it back to the setter. Nine times out of ten, the ball was received, but rebounded to any spot where the setter wasn't.

"Maybe I'm not cut out to be a libero," Mikaela told her captain, Tsudeki Hayama, that day after practice.

Tsudeki shook her head. "You're one of the best divers I've seen. You can always get under the ball, and you seem to know where the ball's going to go before anyone else. We just need to work on your passing." The black-haired soon-to-be libero slumped in defeat.

She went to see Kageyama as soon as practice was done. His team's practice was held in the second gym. She got there as they were all packing up, and she spotted Iwaizumi. Mikaela steeled herself. _I want to have good spikes. I want to have good spikes._

"Oikawa-san, please show me how you serve," she heard her cousin say.

Mikaela tensed, but Oikawa just glared at him. "Don't want to! Nya!"

"Don't pick on the first year," Iwaizumi scolded, dragging the captain away. Mikaela hustled over.

"I- Iwaizumi-san?" she called timidly, squeezing a volleyball that she had grabbed off the ground between her hands.

The ace blinked. "You're Kageyama's cousin, right?"

She nodded. "Mikaela Kaisha."

"Right. What do you want?"

"Teach me how to spike!"

Oikawa stared at the girl, somewhat puzzled, before he started snickering as Iwaizumi's face heated up. "You want me to teach you? Well, uh, I mean..." he composed himself. "Why me? Aren't you on the girls' team? Ask one of them."

Mikaela pouted, glaring at her shoes, squeezing the volleyball between her hands, and she muttered something that nobody could make out. When Iwaizumi raised his eyebrows, Mikaela grumbled, "they want me to be a libero."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I don't _want_ to be a libero," she replied, eyebrows knitting together, "I want to spike the ball, I want to attack, and if I'm stuck on defense the entire time I'll go crazy. That, and I suck at passing to the setter."

To her surprise, Oikawa burst out laughing. "She's got guts."

"And you want me to teach you?" Iwaizumi said slowly.

Mikaela nodded feverishly, her cheeks bright red. "I... I came to see one of your practice matches. And you were really good! And Tobio said you're the ace! And it'd be really cool to learn from the ace of the team, right?"

Kageyama watched from the side with an innocent expression on his face. Mikaela held her breath. Iwaizumi shrugged, his cheeks faintly pink. "Sure. No harm in it, I guess."

Her face lit up. "Really?! Thank you so much, Iwaizumi-senpai!"

"Senpai?" he said, his voice dangerously close to a squeak. Oikawa was snickering at him. "Well, uh, okay."

And that was how her training started. Too bad Oikawa still refused to teach Kageyama.

* * *

It was around that time when Mikaela found her greatest weapon.

She was ambidextrous.

Iwaizumi learned of that and jumped on the opportunity to get her to try left-handed spikes. He told her that most people are used to receiving right-handed spikes, and if she could use both hands with the same force, her capabilities and danger level would increase. Kageyama immediately started adjusting his sets for both her hands, and Mikaela found herself loving spiking more and more.

Mikaela went to volleyball practice, then worked with Iwaizumi in the boys' gym. Some of his team mates (mostly Oikawa) teased him for helping a little girl, but her spikes were gradually becoming better and better. Iwaizumi got extra practice time as well. Kageyama often joined them, as well as Oikawa- with the captain setting balls for his ace with Kageyama working on his setting for Mikaela.

Back with the girls', it seemed like nothing was getting better. Mikaela was still furiously digging the ball, but still had a lot of trouble passing. She focused more on getting the ball in a high, spin-less arc so the setter could get to it. It worked, but Tsudeki still wanted more accuracy. Given that their previous libero had graduated last year, she was the only one who could fit the bill. She never got to work on her spikes or tips or anything, until she went to practice with Iwaizumi.

Then, the boys graduated.

After their graduation, Kageyama had shaken all the third years' hands and wished them luck in high school. Mikaela had come to shake Oikawa's hand and bury her face into Iwaizumi's chest in a rough hug. "You guys better be the best damn team in high school," she had said into his jacket. Iwaizumi had laughed and awkwardly hugged her back before she detached herself.

"You'll be a great spiker," he told her, ruffling her hair.

"If they'd ever let me spike," she groaned, scuffing her shoes on the ground.

Iwaizumi grinned. "They will. You're going to be a famous volleyball prodigy one day, and you're going to tell everyone that Iwaizumi Hajime taught you how to spike. They'll call you the Two-Handed Devil or something."

"Is that the only reason you taught me?"

"Maybe."

"And... Devil?!"

"It matches your personality."

"Iwaizumi!"

"And you'd better hope that you grow a bit."

"Hey!"

After they graduated, the next year flew by. Kageyama was Kitagawa Daiichi's setter, but Mikaela was starting to notice the changes in his personality. He, much like herself, had difficulty communicating and connecting with other players on the court. He grew into the nickname 'King of the Court' partially for his superb playing skills, and partially for his dictator personality. His sets were becoming more and more demanding.

"Tobio," Mikaela said one day after their practice game had ended dangerously close to Kitagawa Daiichi's loss, "maybe you ought to match up with the other spikers on your team."

Kageyama shook his head. "They'd get stuffed. I'm setting the best possible ball. They just need to keep up with me." He paused. " _You_ could hit all the sets I make."

"But I'm not on the court," she protested. But what Kageyama was saying was probably true. They practiced together often, and Mikaela could hit whatever he set for her. Not that they'd ever played together in a game, though. So maybe he was wrong. "And you, as the setter, have to try and connect with your team."

"You don't," he pointed out strictly.

Mikaela winced, then frowned. "Hey! Volleyball's all I need. But you're setter!"

"Yeah. Sure." He brushed off the suggestion like it was a fly.

Their second year in Junior High passed by quickly. In their third year, Mikaela had four other girls her age on the team with her. Nobody in the year directly under her had shown any potential or interest as a libero, and this was the last possible year. She gnawed at her nails nervously when she saw some of the girls who had signed up. _I want to be a wing spiker. Please, please, please let their be someone who can be a libero._

They held their practice match, and Mikaela's wish finally came true.

Young, blonde, blue-eyed Moronika Hisaki had brilliant passing and receiving, but difficult serves and spikes. It was perfect. Mikaela approached her immediately after practice. "Hey, Moronika!" she called as the team was dismissed by their captain.

The girl gulped nervously. She was really shy and quiet, Mikaela had noticed quickly. "Y- Yes, Mikaela-senpai?"

"Do you know what position I play?"

Moronika nodded slowly. "You're the libero."

"And what does the libero do?"

The girl was starting relax. These were easy questions to answer, if you knew what the answer was. "The libero is the defensive specialist. She has to have steady receives, good digging skills, and gets substituted differently than all the other players. Why?"

"I think you could be a libero," Mikaela said firmly, watching the girl's eyes light up. "Would you be interested?"

"Yes!" Moronika cried, losing her shy exterior for a brief second. Then, it was back. "I mean, yes, I would love to."

"Great," Mikaela said in relief. "I'll let our captain know and we'll start your training right away. I have a feeling you'll be playing a lot this year."

"R- Really?" she squeaked. Her smile turned into a frown. "Are you injured? Or... leaving?"

Mikaela laughed. "No, nothing serious. I'm hoping for a change in position. I want to try wing spiker."

"Spiking?" Moronika mused thoughtfully. She shook her head. "I don't like doing that. It scares me."

She laughed again, offering her hand in a high-five. "You won't have to."

* * *

They went to their grandfather's funeral together.

He'd been the one to encourage them to continue with volleyball; he'd been the one to show them how to play and would take them to games. He'd showed them how to bump, set, and spike. He would watch volleyball videos with them despite being in a hospital bed.

And now he was gone.

That was the day, Mikaela realized, that she and Kageyama both had the same promise in mind.

They'd make him proud.

* * *

It was four weeks before the final Junior High Athletics Meet. Mikaela had invested almost all of her time into teaching Moronika, and the girl learned incredibly quickly. Her reflexes were faster than Mikaela's, and she was doing fantastic.

The team had a meeting after practice. "We've got a practice match tomorrow against another school," their current captain, Yukinagi Noriko explained. "And Shukashi can't make it, she's got an appointment." Shukashi was their current ace, one of their wing spikers. Mikaela envied her incredibly. "We're also going to be missing two of our other wing spikers for other reasons, so we may have to have a middle blocker play as a wing spiker. Everyone good with that?"

The team nodded, some of the girls who played wing spikers grinding their teeth. Mikaela raised her hand. "Yukinagi?"

The team captain raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Mikaela?"

"Can I make a request for positioning?"

"You can try," Yukinagi replied sarcastically, yet as serious as always. "What is it?"

"Play Moronika as libero the entire time," she offered, "and play me as wing spiker."

It was her big opportunity. Yukinagi's jaw dropped, her strict exterior melting under surprise. She wasn't the only one- her team mates shared dumbfounded expressions, with an 'are you kidding me?' look plastered on some of their faces. "What?! Why?"

"I want to try out being on offense," she said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "That, and the libero position was kind of forced on me in my first year here. I want to try out wing spiker, and now would be a good time. This school's going to be an easy match, right?" she joked.

Yukinagi nodded thoughtfully, listening to the reasoning behind her argument. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. It would definitely give Moronika-chan more experience. Everyone okay with that?"

To Mikaela's surprise, there were no complaints.

"Great," Yukinagi said, clapping her hands together. "Don't be late tomorrow. Dismissed!"

Mikaela immediately celebrated with Kageyama, who promised to come and see her match. "Finally," she cheered in excitement. "I finally get to spike the ball!" She finally understood Kageyama's pure joy of being on the court- she was finally going in as the position she had always wanted, and nothing had made her more excited.

"You better not mess up," her cousin warned.

The black-haired girl glared at him. "Way to ruin my mood!"

The day seemed to pass by achingly slowly until the practice match. Chukara Junior High arrived at their school as soon as the bell rang, and then everyone was warming up, with Kageyama joining the spectators at the benches. Their setter, second year Askinawa Kitara, practiced warming up a bit with Mikaela before the match started. Yukinagi put her on the starting line, to her joy, in the place of their missing ace. "Don't let us down," the captain threatened, "or else I'm moving you back to libero."

"Got it," she replied firmly.

Chukara Junior High served first. The ball was received by Moronika, the libero, with a perfect receive. The setter, Ashinawa, got ready to set.

"Here!" Mikaela called.

"Here!" called Yukinagi at the same time.

The blockers split up, and Ashinawa passed to Yukinagi, who scored the point. Mikaela pursed her lips but thought nothing of it, until the game continued. She'd only touched the ball once, and that was for a receive. They score was 12-9, and she hadn't gotten a chance to spike at all. _The setter doesn't trust me._ Mikaela bit her lip. Chukara Junior High called a time out, and Mikaela took the opportunity. "I've been open a few times," she said warily to Ashinawa. "You can set to me."

"I know," she replied carefully, but that was it. That was the same as, _no, I'm not going to set to you, you don't know how to spike._ Mikaela's temper was rising, and Yukinagi could tell.

"Ashinawa," the captain said softly, "send the next point to Mikaela. There's no point of her being out there if you're not going to set to her." The setter nodded stiffly and Mikaela sent Yukinagi a silent thank you. They went back onto the court, with Mikaela taking her position on the left side.

The setter followed Yukinagi's suggestion.

Moronika made another great receive, and Mikaela raised a hand. "Here!"

She could see the distrust in the setter's eyes, but Ashinawa still set the ball in a high arc in her direction. That was when Mikaela's eyes widened. It was too far. She wouldn't be able to reach it for a spike. And that was done on purpose. Mikaela was filled with rage. Ashinawa had set it on purpose so that she wouldn't be able to hit it! What did this girl have against her?

...Unless she used her left hand.

Blessing her ambidextrous ability, Mikaela felt time slowing down. Kageyama had his fists clenched in anticipation at the sidelines; she could see him out of the corner of her eye. She counted her steps. One, two, and up. But instead of jumping up off her left, like right-handed player did, she jumped off her right, pulling her left hand back.

The blockers hadn't anticipated this, and it left a hole in the blocking.

Mikaela felt like she had been hit in a patch of warm sunlight- she had never felt so alive. She pulled all her practicing into one move, and swung her left hand at the ball as hard as she could.

The ball blasted past the blockers and smacked onto the ground beside the other team's libero, then bounced up with enough force to send it rolling back to the far corner of the gym. Mikaela landed, and she knew that moment would be ingrained into her memory for the rest of her life _._ Mikaela stared at her left hand, grinning wildly, before she looked back at the rest of her team.

Yukinagi was smirking, and Moronika was beaming. "That was fantastic!" she called, alongside the rest of the team. "Since when are you left-handed?!" Mikaela felt warm, like every compliment was making her day that much better. Her team mates high-fived her, praising her for her hidden talents.

To put the icing on the cake, Mikaela turned to the setter. "No matter where you set it," she said clearly to a dumbfounded Ashinawa, "even if it's purposely to mess me up, I can and will hit it."

The sets ended, 25-20 and 25-16. Mikaela scored nine more points after her very first spike.

It must've been the best day of her life.

* * *

The Junior High Athletics Meet day had arrived, and Mikaela was buzzing with excitement. She and Kageyama were both going, to play for their respective teams, and Mikaela had played nothing but wing spiker since her debut against Chukara Junior High. They'd played a couple more practice matches since then, and word had gotten around about the sudden appearance of the terrifying ambidextrous spiker.

She had even made herself a nickname, first given to her by Moronika, then spread among her team mates and the other teams she played.

Demon.

For her terrifyingly strong spikes and serves, and scary ability to use both hands.

The court's Demon.

And she loved it so much.

(Yet it was incredibly similar to what Iwaizumi suggested... Hmph.)

The Junior High Athletics Meet went incredibly well. They blew through all of their matches with easy wins. They made it to the finals with ease, ready to play against Shiratorizawa Girls' Volleyball team. Shukashi, the team's ace, played alongside Mikaela. It was just too much offensive power for the other teams to handle. Shukashi had easily accepted Mikaela as a strong player, and wasn't even jealous or frustrated at all. Mikaela loved her for that.

The game started with Mikaela's serve.

She had been working on her serve for a while. She was very strong, so the serve had a lot of power, but little control. Mikaela served, and it was received, but sent back over the net as a free ball. Moronika, the beautiful libero she was, received it with ease. Ashinawa set in up to Mikaela, who took a good run at the ball, especially since she started in the back court. She heard shouts from the other team that made her determination stronger- shouts of, "watch out!" and such made her heart beat faster.

She moved up the ball, ready to spike, and then tipped it gently over the blockers, scoring their first point.

"You," Yukinagi declared, clapping her on the back, "are a truly evil player, and I love it."

The game continued, but it was dangerously close. They won the first set, 25-23, and lost the second, 26-24. The third set was going well, and both Shukashi and Mikaela had been giving it their all. Mikaela never remembered feeling so tired. She had spotted Iwaizumi and Oikawa watching her game, which filled her heart to the brim.

What made it all worthwhile was when she scored the winning point, a left-handed spike that punched straight through the blockers and went to the back corner of the court.

They had won.

It was definitely, Mikaela decided as she was swarmed by her joyful team mates, the best day of her life.

* * *

She was disappointed to hear that Kageyama had lost his finals match, and scared for her best friend. He was more tense than usual, and more demanding than usual. He had been pulled off in the last game, because his demands were just too much. It took a lot of comforting and persuading to get Kageyama to even just talk to her. He was scary when he was mad, but that was a trait that they both shared.

Weeks, school ended, and break began. They trained together every day.

But then, the dreaded day arrived.

Mikaela had been accepted to Niiyama Girl's High, the top school in the prefecture for volleyball. Kageyama, who had applied to Shiratorizawa, was rejected.

They were parting ways. Kageyama was headed to Karasuno. She was not. "I'm going to miss you," she admitted on their last day together over the break. "You're my best friend."

Kageyama shrugged. "I'll still see you when our families get together. And we can visit each other."

"My parents divorced a year ago," she reminded him. Their family visits had become less and less frequent because of it. Mikaela loved both her parents, but the divorce made it difficult. "And I'm living with my dad, remember? He lives closer to Niiyama than Mom does."

Kageyama's eyes drifted to the ground. She knew her cousin wouldn't admit it, but he would miss her. She heard her mother calling her, saying that they had to leave. Mikaela hugged him tightly. "Make some friends, okay?" she whispered. "A setter's got to connect with his team."

He hugged her back. "Yeah. Sure."

"See ya, Kags," she called finally, remembering not to use his nickname from volleyball. He hated that.

"See ya, Kaisha," he replied, smirking slightly.

They parted ways. And Mikaela didn't look back.

Little did she know that in less than two months, she would be at Karasuno, for circumstances more horrible than she would've hoped, and they would be closer than she ever would've imagined.

* * *

 **Some disclaimers;**

 **I DO NOT OWN HAIKYUU. Haikyuu belongs to its respective owners, not myself.**

 **Welcome! This is my first attempt at a Haikyuu! OC story (excluding a one-shot I wrote ages ago), and I'm really excited for this one. This chapter was just for some background knowledge! I've had to do a fair bit of research for this story (you'll see in upcoming chapters ;) ) and this will hopefully challenge me a bit.**

 **I'm not sure if I'm going to do a pairing in this story or not. This story is significantly more focused on my OC's development and her own problems (and there's a lot, oh boy) but I think I want to try a pairing. We'll see as the story goes on.**

 **I've had the idea for an ambidextrous player for a while now, and I've actually had this one chapter written for ages XD I wanted to release it now, though, because I wouldn't be surprised if the Haikyuu! author comes up with an ambidextrous player soon.**

 **My updates tend to be about once a week, and I'll do my best to stick to that schedule.**

 **Thank you for reading this far! I hope to hear your thoughts :)**

 **~Until next time!**


	2. The Introduction

**Many thanks to TsukiHotone, patamon642, katysaevang, TECHNICALpanda, ani-ota123, lightclaw44, Friva2397, AnimeAngels556, Karissa2002, HTMLfreak, and MusicLover315 for your support! :)**

* * *

"Dumbass, what took you so long?"

"You're so mean," Hinata whined, plopping himself down in a seat next to Kageyama. Lunchtime had finally arrived, and the two volleyball dorks had chosen to invade an empty classroom to enjoy their lunches. He pulled out his lunch bag and started unpacking the sandwich his mother had made for him this morning. "I was talking to Kiyoko-san. I was helping her out."

Kageyama frowned, shifting in his seat. "What did she need help with? And why would she go to _you_ for help?" He opened up his own lunch box.

"Bakayama!" the orange-haired spiker scolded, cheeks flaming red, biting down into his lunch. "She's looking for another manager." Kageyama's eyebrows shot up, suddenly interested, and he leaned forwards. "I know we just lost to the Great King and stupid Blue Castle-" his voice became grumbled and angry- "but she said she was looking for a new manager for next year. I guess she figured that I'm one of the only first years with people skills, besides Yamaguchi, so I talked to some of my friends who aren't busy doing anything-"

"Where's she now?" Kageyama interrupted.

Hinata cocked an eyebrow at his setter. "I think she's looking around for first years. Why?"

Kageyama stood up, slamming his lunch box closed again. "I know a girl who's interested. I should probably find Kiyoko-san before she gets another manager."

"Kageyama _knows_ people?! A girl?!" Hinata gasped dramatically.

The black-haired boy glared. "Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, you're all... _rawwwrrrrr_ and _gwaaaa_ ," Hinata said, making exaggerated hand motions as he tried to painfully represent Kageyama's personality, his half-eaten sandwich swinging in the air. Kageyama tried to cut him off with a glare but Hinata continued, much to his agitation. "You're antisocial and you get fed up with people really easily, and you scare people away."

"Dumbass," Kageyama snapped, moving towards the door of the classroom, "I just get fed up with _you_ really easily." Hinata pouted. "And I don't scare people!"

"Yes, you do," Hinata argued, following Kageyama out of the room and down the hallways. "You have a scary face and a scarier personality!"

"No, I don't!" Kageyama growled at Hinata- quite literally- and swiped a hand at his shoulder.

Hinata, being the height he was, ducked easily. "See what I mean! Scary!"

Kageyama huffed. "No."

"Who's this person you know?" Hinata recalled, bouncing as he walked.

"Just my cousin," Kageyama shrugged.

"How come I've never met her? Does she like volleyball? Is she good at it?"

The setter blinked a few times. "Slow down, idiot. She just transferred here two days ago."

"Did you not show her around?" Hinata demanded loudly, jabbing an accusing finger at Kageyama. "Did she get lost? Has she made friends? Is she our year?"

Kageyama bared his teeth at the orange-haired ball of joy and Hinata shrieked, scampering away. "I showed her to the office! She can read a map fine! Yeah, she's a first year, like us."

"So she'll be our manager?"

"Yeah," he replied briskly. "She asked if there were any volleyball related positions open. If she knew that I could've got her a manager position and I didn't, she probably would've killed me."

Hinata laughed. "So she jokes around!"

"Nope," Kageyama opposed, "sometimes I think she's dead serious."

Hinata was silent for a moment, then; "I can't wait to meet her! She can't be any scarier than you!"

The oddball duo continued through the hallways, bickering and arguing about how scary Kageyama really was. Other students who had sat down in the halls to eat lunch regarded them with crooked expression, wondering how to interpret the bickering friends, but everyone just left them to argue. Hinata pointed out their manager, who was talking to a small group of first year girls.

"Kikoyo-san!" Hinata called from across the hall. "Kageyama found us a new manager!"

The raven-haired boy's cheek tinged red. His annoying teammate managed to attract all the attention of everyone around them, yet again. They both closed off the distance with Kiyoko, who smiled at them gratefully, visibly relaxing. "That's great. Can she be at practice tonight?"

Kageyama nodded. "Yeah, I'll let her know."

"Great," Kiyoko said, "I can't wait to meet her." She smiled brightly at Kageyama. "You've saved me a great deal of searching, thank you, Kageyama."

"N- Not a problem," the setter mumbled. The third year manager walked off, smiling. The two first year boys watched her go.

Hinata started bouncing again. "So I get to meet her at practice? Your cousin?"

"If you don't scare her off first."

" _You're_ the scary one!"

"I'm not!"

"Yeah! You're all-"

"You already told me, moron!"

"Bakayama! Don't hit me!"

* * *

The boys were all gathered in the gym, stretching and warming up in preparation for practice. Shimizu Kiyoko paced herself across the yard and towards the steps up to the gym, and to her great relief there was a girl leaning against the wall outside the gym.

The girl had black hair pulled up into a ponytail and when she looked up, Kiyoko saw dark blue eyes. She was built tall, taller than Kiyoko was, with broad shoulders and strong legs. She wore the school uniform but with long black leggings underneath, covering up her legs. But what struck Kiyoko the most was the scowl she had plastered on her face. She almost stuttered.

She looked exactly like Kageyama.

"Hello," she greeted, recovering swiftly. "I'm Shimizu Kiyoko, the Karasuno Boys' Volleyball Team manager. Are you the one Kageyama mentioned was interested in the position?" she held out a hand, beaming.

The girl looked startled, but returned the hand gesture and shook Kiyoko's hand, her grip strong. "Yes, I am."

God, she even _talked_ like Kageyama. "Say," she said, her curiosity becoming too much to handle, "are you and Kageyama related?"

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "He's my cousin." Kiyoko could've sworn they were twins.

"What's your name?"

"Mikaela Kaisha," she replied, managing a small smile, which was much more than Kageyama could ever manage.

The current Karasuno Boys' Volleyball manager beamed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you foreign? Your name doesn't sound like it's Japanese."

"My dad grew up in Canada," the setter's cousin admitted, "but I'm Japanese."

"Do you know anything about volleyball?" she mused, studying the girl. She looked athletic, and of decent height.

"I used to play," Mikaela replied, shrugging. "Not so much anymore."

She said it in such a way that indicated the topic was closed. Kiyoko decided not to press her any further about it. "So, Mikaela-san, you're sure about becoming a manager?"

"Drop the honorifics," she said instantly. "Please. And yes, I am."

"Well, Mikaela," the manager said, the name rolling off her tongue, "Does this mean you're definitely accepting the position?" The girl nodded, trying to smile again, and Kiyoko smiled brightly. "You're fine with meeting the boys, then?"

She nodded, shrugging at the same time. Kiyoko wondered how much this girl had in common with her cousin- but the similarities in their face, appearance, and scowl was uncanny. Grateful that she didn't have to keep searching for another manager, she pushed open the gym door. The boys were chatting and stretching inside. "Um," she started, calling out specifically to Daichi and Sugawara, the team captains. Everyone turned and faced her anyways. "Can I have a minute?"

The boys all watched her, and she slid out of the way. Mikaela strolled in from behind her.

Takeda-sensei smiled at Kiyoko, grateful she could get another manager so quickly, and then his smile froze and wavered. All the boys on the volleyball team, with the exception of Kageyama, turned their heads in unison to regard the new arrival. Mikaela's cheeks were tinging pink, the manager noticed, maybe from the sudden attention. "She's going to be serving as manager with me." All the boys continued to stare at her.

But then, all the boys slowly turned and looked at Kageyama. Then back to Mikaela. And back to Kageyama. There was a silence that slightly terrified Kiyoko, because these boys were _never_ quiet.

"HOLY CRAP!" cried Nishinoya, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically. "It's Kageyama!"

Asahi blinked rapidly. "Is that Kageyama in girl form?"

"Kageyama has a twin?" Sugawara asked himself in disbelief.

Kageyama sighed and rolled his eyes. "We-"

He never really got to finish his sentence, because the ball of orange hair jumped up in front of him. "Kageyama! Is that your cousin?"

"She's your cousin?" Yamaguchi said in what sounded like awe.

Ennoshita narrowed his eyes, frowning. "There's no way that's not his twin!"

Tsukishima just rolled his eyes and frowned. Everyone started talking at once, until Daichi spoke up. "Everyone! You're probably scaring her! Let her introduce herself!"

They were, in fact, a bit overwhelming, and Kiyoko sent her silent thanks to the volleyball team captain. "I'm Mikaela Kaisha," she said, her voice not particularly loud but loud enough for everyone to hear. She tried to smile again, and Kiyoko found herself respecting this girl more and more for trying so much. "I'll be in your care."

"That's great," Daichi said. Mikaela blinked, studying the captain. "Your name doesn't sound Japanese."

She shrugged. "My father grew up in Canada."

"Seriously? That's awesome," Sugawara said, smiling at Mikaela with such happiness and friendliness in his tone that Kiyoko could tell it instantly made Mikaela relax a little. Sugawara just had this friendly atmosphere around him that put everyone at ease.

Asahi came up from behind Suga. "You're a first year?"

"Yes," she replied, shrugging. "Class 1-4."

"Nice job, Asahi!" Nishinoya cheered, clapping his giant friend on the back. "You didn't scare her!" The ace shrunk down, surprised by the libero.

"So you're Kageyama's cousin?" Yamaguchi asked.

Mikaela nodded. "I transferred here two days ago."

"Why so late?" Sugawara asked. "Where from?"

The black-haired girl seemed to pause before she said, "from Niiyama Girl's High."

"Oh!" Daichi exclaimed, "they're called the Queens of the Court in volleyball, are they not?"

But before Mikaela could reply, she was bombarded by the short orange-haired spiker, who had a star-struck look in his eyes and was jumping with no drain on his energy. "Whoa! So are you good at volleyball? Do you play?"

Mikaela's eyes followed his jumping form. "Is this Hinata?" she asked.

"She knows my name!" Hinata cried out. "How does she know my name?!" He looked around wildly, as if expecting an answer to pop up somewhere.

"Tobio- I mean, Kageyama told me," Mikaela said. "I'm looking forward to seeing the quick set he's talked about."

"He's _talked_ about it?!" the boy squealed, jumping excitedly. Mikaela started to laugh as Kageyama's cheeks tinged red. Yamaguchi crowded in next to her, followed by Hinata, who wanted to know even more about what Kageyama had said about him.

"Stop bombarding her with greetings until she's used to it!" Kiyoko exclaimed.

Everyone backed off a bit, sheepish. Nishinoya was peering over Sugawara's shoulder at her until the vice-captain pushed him off. Mikaela frowned, staring at Kageyama, who was trying to strangle Hinata. When he met her gaze, he just rolled his eyes. Tsukishima frowned, trying to remember if he'd seen her in class before. The boys started getting ready for practice. Kiyoko tapped Mikaela on the shoulder. "Do you want to stay and help out with practice?"

"Sure," Mikaela replied, the grin stretched wide on her face, eyeing the volleyballs.

Kiyoko smiled. She had a much easier time smiling than her cousin did. "You used to play?"

"Yeah," she said softly, her smile wavering. "I... Well, I just don't anymore."

She smiled, understanding that she didn't want to talk right away. Maybe an injury, or something similar to Asahi- maybe she had a really bad game or season. Mikaela grabbed a ball and started drumming it against the ground, flexing her hand. The boys started yelling at each other to organize a practice game. The manager smiled, watching the look of concentration of Mikaela's face.

Why didn't she play volleyball anymore?

Kiyoko would let her answer on her own time. Maybe it had something to do with the way the girl walked with a limp.

Not visible, barely noticeable, but she could tell.

* * *

 _The orange and yellow and red blurred her vision. Coughing, she stumbled forwards, desperately trying to make it to the doors, weaving around the fallen piece of ceiling. Smoke filled the air and flew up into the sky, which was very close to dark._

 _She heard screams. She ignored them._

 _The door, her last available exit, was so close, yet so far. She risked a glance up. The ceiling above was about to collapse, fire snaking around the beams. There was a loud creaking noise. If that fell, there was no way she would get out._

 _She summoned her volleyball skills and pretended that there was a volleyball at the door, and she dove as the roof gave a massive shudder and collapsed._

 _She didn't make it._

 _The intense burning in her leg and the wall of smoke made her pass out._

* * *

 **Early chapter! I'm in a good mood so I decided to get this out now. Next chapter will be Sunday. :)**

 **I shall give you all some warnings now- this story is rated T for strong language and abuse/mentions of abuse. It's not severe, but if you'd like me to put a warning at the top of a chapter when such a thing is going to occur, please let me know. Otherwise, this is all the warning you're going to get.**

 **HTMLfreak:** Thank you so much for your review! I'm so glad you like it so far :)) Yes, her father is Canadian- he's from a Japanese family in Canada, so Mikaela is full Japanese- but she likes her last name. To be honest, I realized about midway through planning this story that this wasn't a traditional Japanese name, but I couldn't think of any new names I liked, and I kept coming back to this one, so it stuck XD Thank you so much!

 **Thank you for reading! :)**


	3. The Recognition

**Many thanks to Daughter of the Oceans, thefangirlfeelz, NoblezaReina, and MusicLover315 for your reviews, follows, and favourites :)**

* * *

Mikaela watched the boys' practice matches in complete and total awe.

Awe, because they were so goofy yet all so talented at the same time.

Awe, because most of their starting line were first and second years.

And complete and total awe because her cousin, Kageyama, was working _with_ the team. Something he could never do and had never done in all her time knowing him.

The team had split into two sides and were playing three on three, with some of the others working on passing and serving at the side. Everything was going smoothly but she'd occasionally hear loud screams from some of the practicing players when they nailed a serve or made a good pass.

The team's coach- Ukai?- had popped in and out of the practice all evening. Takeda-sensei was overseeing practice, but apparently the coach had some things to attend to. The only interaction she had with him was when he noticed her and said, "New manager? Sweet," and then took off again.

"Yeaaaaaah!" someone howled from the practicing group. Mikaela looked over to see two of the boys- one short one with spiky hair and one with a buzz cut- screaming at the top of their lungs and high-fiving each other. To her mortification, the buzz cut guy took his shirt off and whipped it around over his head.

Shimizu seemed to notice her expression and smiled at her. "He does that. You'll get used to it."

"Oi, Tanaka! Keep your shirt on!" the captain called in between points, glaring at the shirtless volleyball player.

 _So his name is Tanaka._ There were so many new people at once, and Mikaela was having a hard time remembering all the names. She made a point to remember the captains, Sawamura Daichi and Sugawara Koushi. Obviously, she knew Kageyama, and the short ball of sunshine that was named Hinata from Kageyama's numerous texts. Of course, the texts were mostly complaints- 'he's way too stupid' or, her personal favorite, 'that stupid shrimp completely flubbed the first set, and he hit me in the back of a head with a serve!'. Mikaela smiled. Kageyama, who never had any friends besides herself, was finally becoming part of the time and making an effort to work with the others. The sight warmed her heart.

The team launched back into their practice match. On one side were Sugawara, the vice captain; the tall third year that was the team's ace, and the tall blond boy, that to her surprise, was a first year. The other side consisted of Hinata, Kageyama, and Daichi. The short matches went for about five minutes each before the teams switched around.

Since then, Mikaela had changed from her school uniform into grey track pants and a white, short sleeved t-shirt. It was much more comfortable, in her opinion, even if her leg was aching badly. Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and Mikaela jumped before turning around. It was just Shimizu. "How're you liking it?" she asked quietly.

"They're brilliant," Mikaela replied immediately. "For the most part, they've all got different skills that look like they'll click well together." Mikaela grinned. "I can't wait to see them play."

Shimizu nodded, smiling. "They definitely are a force to be reckoned with."

There was a shout, and Mikaela looked over just in time to see the tall ace hammer a powerful serve. The serve went right to Hinata, which Mikaela thought he would've returned effortlessly, but instead it rebounded off his arms and to the back of the gym. Mikaela almost laughed- so this was what Kageyama meant when he had said, 'the shrimp has almost no skill!'. She was sure he'd get better.

"I'll get it," she called out. Shimizu tossed a different volleyball to the server on the other side, who was apologizing frantically to Hinata. Mikaela rolled her eyes- the team definitely seemed to have very vast differences in personality- and tried to jog over to the abandoned ball. The pain flared up her right thigh and she slowed to a walk.

Mikaela had just picked up the ball and tossed it back to Shimizu when she turned back to the court.

The black-haired girl watched as Sugawara set the ball. But it must've been too close to the net, because Sugawara apologized as soon as he set it. The ace, mid jump, swung for the ball and clipped the bottom of it, so instead of pounding down to the court, it flew straight, over Hinata's head.

And directly at her.

"Mikaela!" warned Kageyama.

Her hand snapped up front of her face as a reflex and she caught the ball with one hand, stopping all of its momentum with her palm. She curled her fingers around the top of the ball and tossed it awkwardly back to Kageyama, who was up to serve.

"I'm so sorry!" the giant man apologized, bowing frantically behind the net.

She waved her hand at him. "No worries, no harm done."

"That was cool," Hinata muttered under his breath. He turned and glanced back at Kageyama. "I see who got all the cool genes in your family."

Kageyama whipped the volleyball at Hinata, hitting the boy square in the chest and knocking him over. "Shut it, moron!"

"Oi! We're playing a game!" Sawamura called. "Let's get going!" Grumbling, the two first years went back to their positions and the vice captain... Suga? Yes, Sugawara. The vice captain tossed the volleyball back to Kageyama, who drummed it off the floor a few times before jumping into a killer serve. She watched with a bittersweet smile on her face.

Suddenly, she got chills down her spine. The black-haired girl turned around to see the buzz cut guy (oh, damn, she was bad with names... Taroka? something like that) staring at her, his eyes narrowed. His mouth was pinched together, almost like he was trying to see inside her head.

"Ryu, stop glaring at her," the short guy scolded. "You'll scare her."

"Ah, sorry," he apologized. She shrugged at him, as if to say that she didn't mind. "I just feel like I recognize you from somewhere."

"Nah," Mikaela said quietly, brushing off his suggestion. "You wouldn't."

The short boy- dammit, she needed his name- raised an eyebrow at her. "What middle school did you go to?"

"Kitagawa Daiichi," she replied, jerking her head towards the court where her cousin was. "Same as him." She bit her lip, then blurted out, "I'm so sorry, I don't know your names yet."

"Tanaka Ryūnosuke!" he said proudly (Okay, Taroka, she wasn't that far off). "Wing spiker!"

"Nishinoya Yū!" the shorter boy announced, pounding a fist on his chest. "Libero!"

"Nice to meet you," she said, offering them a lopsided smile. "Mikaela Kaisha. Manager?"

Nishinoya laughed at her attempt for a joke. "Have you played volleyball?"

"A bit in middle school, yeah."

Tanaka shifted sharply. "What position?"

 _Crap, he's made a connection._ "Uh, libero, for a bit," she mumbled, and Nishinoya's eyes widened.

"Even though you're really tall?" he asked. "Isn't that difficult?"

She was about to reply when someone clapped their hands together. Mikaela turned and noticed Daichi calling everyone to the court. Probably to switch up teams- the score on the score sheet said 25 - 22. She didn't even know for what team. She spotted Shimizu carrying water bottles and immediately went over to help her. The captain split up their roles, and Kageyama turned to his cousin. "How're you doing?" he asked quietly, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Good so far," she said. "The leg's not cramping yet."

Kageyama rolled his eyes. "Well-"

 _"Aha!"_

The scream almost made Mikaela flinch. She turned around to see Tanaka pointing an angry finger at her, grinning. "I got it! I remember where I know you from!"

"You... You know me?" she said slowly, glancing at her cousin. The setter shrugged.

Tanaka grinned in triumph. "Suga, Daichi, remember right before the year started? When we went to go see the junior high games and watch his Majesty play?" Kageyama growled, but Daichi and Sugawara nodded along. Mikaela frowned. What did that have to do with her?

"Remember when we went to see the girls' game?" Tanaka cried, his face wild.

Sugawara nodded. "Right, you wanted to see the girls' final."

"Specifically to see if there were any high school girls," Daichi noted. Nishinoya and Hinata snickered, Mikaela noticed.

Tanaka sighed. "I couldn't help it!"

"Continue," Sugawara prompted, half laughing.

He waved his hands at Mikaela, and the raven-haired girl felt her cheeks heat up. _"She_ was the one that spiked the ball that almost hit Daichi in the face!"

Mikaela gasped. "What?!"

The team gasped. "What?!"

Kageyama gasped. "What?!"

Daichi and Sugawara gaped. "That was _her?!"_

* * *

 _The Junior High Athletics Meet was coming to a close. The finals for the boys, between Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High and Shiratorizawa Junior High was set to start in fifteen minutes. Both teams were already warming up._

 _"You seen enough, Daichi?" Sugawara asked. "You know, about the King?"_

 _Daichi shrugged, and nodded. "I might stick around for the finals. It should be good. How about you, Tanaka?"_

 _Tanaka stared at Daichi with a creepy look on his face. "Is it true that the girls' teams are playing here too?"_

 _"Yeah," Suga replied, frowning, "they're in the other gym."_

 _"Can we go see them?!" Tanaka almost cried. "Maybe some of the high school girls will be there!"_

 _Daichi laughed. "They should be in their finals now. Maybe we can scout some new talent for Michimiya."_

 _Suga nodded, and Tanaka pumped a fist in the air, excited to look for some cute girls that he may see next year. Daichi and Sugawara shared a look before they started laughing. The trio made their way out of the boys' gym and down a hallway to the girls' gym, and Sugawara pointed out a staircase that led up to the bleachers. "This should be where the finals are."_

 _Tanaka was, predictably, the first one up the stairs. The staircase was rather short, so the bleachers weren't very high off the ground. Tanaka leaped over the last step and trotted along, against the railing. Suga hopped up after him, Daichi pulling up the rear._

 _"She's gonna hit it!"_

 _The crowd erupted in a cheer and the three turned to the court. The team on the far side, in dark blue and white, was evidently Kitagawa Daiichi. Tanaka watched intently as a girl with long black hair leaped up and spiked the ball down at the opposing team's court._

 _The ball hit a short girl's arms and spun off. The ball flew high, up towards the stands._ _At Daichi's face._

 _"Daichi!" Tanaka howled._

 _The black-haired volleyball player's eyes widened, but Sugawara's hands snapped out in front of his face and caught the volleyball. The crowd applauded wildly, and Suga tossed the ball back down to the court with a sheepish grin on his face._

 _Tanaka stared at the girl in amazement._

 _"How hard did she hit that?" Daichi wondered aloud._

 _"That's terrifying," Sugawara agreed._

 _"Terrifying," Tanaka repeated. He looked down at the court. The black-haired girl was being congratulated by her team mates, but she just kind of shrugged casually, smirking._

 _Suga sighed. "I'm kind of glad we don't have to face girls." Daichi and Tanaka nodded in agreement with solemn looks on their faces (although they knew there were plenty of demons of greater strength in their own league) before they went back down the stairs, leaving the cheering crowds behind. Tanaka cast one last glance over his shoulder, staring down to the court where the dark-haired girl was setting up to serve._

 _The ferocity in her eyes was enough to make him shiver and retreat after his captains._

* * *

"Oh my god," Mikaela groaned quietly, resisting the urge to smack her head off a wall. _Oh no._

Tanaka jabbed a finger at her. "That's where I know you from! I knew I recognized you from somewhere!"

"You," Daichi said quietly, his face blank, "are terrifying."

Mikaela blinked rapidly, waving her hands. "I am so, so sorry about that."

"That's so cool!" Hinata cried, waving his hands excitedly. "So you went to Kitagawa Daiichi too! So you're really really good then!"

"W- Well, not really," she stuttered. "I-"

"Wait," the boy with shaggy dark hair pondered (Yamaguri?), "if you're such a good player, why don't you play for the girl's team? Why are you being our manager?"

"Yamaguchi!" Nishinoya cried (Yamaguchi, not Yamaguri...ugh, she was so close). "Are you trying to get rid of the girls?!"

"No!" Yamaguchi protested. "I was just wondering!"

"Tch," grunted the tall blond boy. "Why does it matter?"

Mikaela felt like she wanted to curl up into a tiny ball and hide, right then and there. This was way too much attention all at once. Although she liked being the center of attention on occasions related to volleyball, this was _not_ what she wanted. At all. Her cheeks flushed red, fire truck red. Kageyama had his eyebrows raised at her from afar, a silent _are-you-okay_ kind of stare, and she shot him a pathetic smile. Of _course_ she wasn't okay.

"So," Hinata said thoughtfully as the rest of the team fell silent, "do you still play volleyball?"

"No," she replied evenly, trying not to cringe and look away.

Yamaguchi spoke up. "Why not?"

She struggled to answer and had an internal debate about all the possible answers she could give, then just decided to shrug. "I don't want to," Mikaela lied. That was completely and totally wrong and false, but it was what was going to get her by for now. "But if you need help with anything during practice, I'd be more than happy to help."

Hinata accepted the first fact with a frown and the second with a smile. "Sounds good! But why don't you want to play volleyball?"

The constant nagging was driving Mikaela insane to no end. Unaware of it herself, her dark blue eyes went cold enough to turn water to ice. She glared heavily, without even meaning to, at the entire Karasuno team. The aura around her was dark, scary, and something to be avoided. Yet it was something so completely unexpected (but it should've been- she was related to Kageyama, after all) that it shocked the team down to the core. "I. Don't. _Want._ To," she emphasized, growling.

It was like the entire team had been shoved into a freezer. Daichi and Sugawara's expressions both froze up, and their eyes widened. The same went for most of the others. Hinata looked like he had seen something out of a nightmare. Even the tall blond, who didn't seem to care about much, looked unnerved.

"Okay," Daichi said loudly, clapping his hands, trying to shock the team out of its horror. "Let's get back to practice!" The team moved quickly back to the court, and Mikaela smiled softly, thankful for the absence of attention.

"I take back what I said to you," Hinata whispered to Kageyama when he thought Mikaela was out of earshot.

Kageyama glared at him. "What?"

"Mikaela-san is much, _much_ scarier than you are," he decided. Kageyama looked at him oddly and snorted. "Okay, no, maybe you're really close."

Kageyama threw a volleyball at his head. "Shut it, moron!"

"Bakayama! Stop it!"

Mikaela watched with wide eyes and a grin, shoving her rising anxiety away. Kageyama had bonded better than she ever would've hoped, and that was what she'd focus on for now. Not the other boys.

Just Kageyama.

* * *

 _The light burned her eyes as she woke up. She was dizzy, and her legs were numb, cushions soft beneath her body. She let out a weak groan and tried to sit up. Soft hands gently nudged her back onto the bed. "Gentle, sweetie, just relax."_

 _She wanted to sob in relief. It was her father._

 _"Dad?" she whispered, blinking rapidly. "Where... Where am I? What happened?"_

 _Her father ignored her questions, but when he spoke again, he sounded like he was in pain. "Kaisha, Kageyama came to visit you. Can I send him in?"  
_

 _"Yes, please," she answered softly, grinning to herself._

 _"Oikawa and Iwaizumi from your Junior High school are here too." Her smile widened. "They can visit you later. The room has a limit to the amount of visitors." Room? Limit? Visitors? Where was she?_

 _"Dad," she said as she heard her father get up and move, "where am I?"  
_

 _There was a long, dreadful pause. "You're in the hospital, Kaisha," he said quietly._

 _Her brain filled with dread and pain as the door closed. Her father was gone. Mikaela tried to think. What the heck had she done? Why was she here? Why were so many people visiting her? What... What happened? Her eyes adjusted and she found herself in a small room, on a white bed with heavy white blankets. Lots and lots of blankets. There was tray by the side with a few mechanical instruments, and two chairs on the other side._

 _The door reopened, and her father returned with Kageyama behind him._

 _"Oh my god," she murmured, "Oh my god, Kags, I haven't seen you in forever."_

 _"Hey, Kaisha," he said. His voice sounded equally pained and forced. He sat down next to her father. His eyes drifted to anywhere but her face. His face was incredibly troubled._

 _Mikaela frowned. "Dad? Why am I here?"_

 _"You don't remember?" he said quietly. She shook her head. "There was an... accident at the gym."_

 _She frowned. "What does that have to do with me?"_

 _"You were in the gym, Kaisha," he whispered, sweat dripping down face, his kind eyes full of pain and grief. Mikaela didn't want to know, but at the same time, she needed to. "And you got in an accident."_

 _Kageyama completely avoided her eyes. Her father shuddered._

 _"Kaisha, I don't think you'll ever be able to play volleyball again."_

* * *

That was when her world shattered.

* * *

 **Feel free to guess at her injury. I'm trying to keep it hidden (kinda) with small hints dropped along the way. Have fun.**

 **NoblezaReina:** Thank you! :)

 **MusicLover315:** Oh my goodness thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Happy birthday to the eternally talented Kageyama Tobio! You are one of my favourite characters to write and play a very important role in this story and I love you to death :D Beautiful child :))**

 **Thank you! See you next Sunday!~**


	4. The Posters

**Thank you to Osora98, LadyIcel, Iaeoris, quietcomedian, Artistpoppy, minnatarek, phetty. viet, and YomuHime for your support :)**

* * *

Mikaela stared at the sheet of paper in her hands, studying her printing over and over again before she handed in to Shimizu. "Here," the manager said, trading her the form for a black stylish jacket. "You're a part of the club now."

She opened the jacket up. It was wonderfully styled, black and with beautiful printing on the back. She grinned wildly and immediately put it on, over her white t-shirt.

Hinata whooped loudly. "Two managers! We look really professional now!"

"And they're both female," Tanaka said with a dreamy look in his eyes. Nishinoya, Tanaka's partner in crime, had the same starstruck look. They were smacked on the back of their heads by Sawamura.

"Welcome to the club!" The team cheered loudly, sporting their own jackets. Mikaela grinned wildly. This was going to be fun.

* * *

It was when she was leaving the gym with Shimizu after the boys had all left when she overheard the teacher- Takeda-sensei?- taking with the coach. She hadn't formally been introduced to the coach yet- Coach Ukai, apparently- but he was certainly not his grandfather. "I intended to borrow one of the school's buses for the Tokyo trip," he was saying. Mikaela frowned. She remember them saying something about the Tokyo trip. Shimizu said that they were going on a trip soon, and she was more than welcome to join them. She had shrugged. Was this it?

"But it doesn't seem like we'll be able to," she heard next. "It overlaps with a few of the other clubs. It looks like we'll have to pay more than we first thought."

Mikaela frowned. There was nothing she could do about that- right? Then her eyes flitted to a poster on the school wall. Posters lines up next to each other, advertising everything from school clubs to certain sales at nearby stores.

 _Posters. Advertisements._

The gears in her brain spun as she kept moving, until she was 'attacked' by Hinata. "Mikaela-san! Mikaela-san! You're our official manager now, right?!" he cried loudly, bouncing around.

She nodded. "With Shimizu-senpai, of course. And just Mikaela is okay."

"We're glad you joined," chimed the buzz cut guy, Tanaka. "When you're here, Kiyoko-san talks a lot." The libero nodded along in agreement.

"What sort of reason is that, morons?!" Daichi cried in exasperation and he clonked them both on the heads. Mikaela smiled nervously. After the quick revelation that they knew of her talents, it made things a bit awkward. Sugawara murmured his apologies.

Mikaela smiled. "You guys seem to be a lot of fun. I don't really play volleyball anymore, but I asked Tobio to look out for a position for me if anything volleyball related came up."

Sawamura nodded, smiling. "So, you came from Niiyama?" she nodded. "Why the sudden change?"

"Niiyama just wasn't working for me," she admitted, which was partially the truth. Kageyama snorted quietly and she shot him a glare. "And Kageyama and I were really close in Junior High, so he offered for me to come here."

"So you know all about his kingly actions," snorted the tall blond guy. He had headphones covering his ears (so how was he listening to the conversation?). The shorter boy, Yamaguchi, was walking next to him. Kageyama glared heavily at the boy, irritation clearly written all over his face, and Mikaela came to a quick conclusion.

This boy was an asshole.

"Of course," she snapped, her eyebrows knitting together as she glared at him. "In fact, I should take some of the blame for his difficult standards."

He lowered his headphones from his ears, staring at her with disinterest. "Oh?"

"I could hit those sets," Mikaela said coldly. "Mostly because I can read Kags really well and knew what he was going to do before he did it. But I could." She didn't really like bragging (and it was only half true- she could hit most of what he set, but some of his stuff was just ridiculous), but this god damned asshole was just really making her angry. And he hadn't even _said_ much yet.

"You could keep up with his Majesty and his royal sets?" the boy said in mock surprise. "I'm surprised."

"Why?" she asked. The volleyball team had just been watching, afraid to step in. Their eyes flitted back and forth, like their argument was an interesting tennis match. "Is it because I'm a girl?"

He shrugged. "No."

"Then why?"

The blond glared at her, and she returned his glare with one of her own. "Well, you're the one who said you didn't want to play volleyball, didn't you?" he mused, cocking an eyebrow at her. "I don't think that someone without the same level of passion as that crazed moron could come anywhere close."

 _You don't know anything._

Her temper boiled over. This arrogant asshole was also an absolute moron. She took a step forward to his mocking face when someone grabbed her right arm, holding her back. "Kaisha."

She swiveled. It was Kageyama. "Not now."

"Fine," Mikaela scowled, shaking her arm out of her cousin's grip. "I'm leaving. I don't... _agh!_ " She stomped away angrily, fists clenched, face red. Why did he have to be such a... such a... Ugh! Next time, she was going to punch his lights out, and Kageyama wasn't going to stop her. That stupid asshole.

* * *

The Karasuno volleyball team watched her go and turn the corner of the street, her footsteps heavy. She didn't look back once. Kageyama almost wanted to laugh- at least she was back to her old personality since the accident.

"She's got quite the temper," Tsukishima mused.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if she hit you," Kageyama said plainly, watching his cousin storm off. "She can be exceptionally aggressive when she's angry."

The team's eyes widened. Tanaka and Nishinoya were still staring at the spot she had been, half apprehensive and half something else Kageyama couldn't make out. Daichi and Sugawara had wide eyes but calm faces (...maybe just because Kageyama had used such a big word like 'exceptionally' in a sentence). Yamaguchi looked downright terrified. Hinata had stopped jumping, pondering his words.

Tsukishima, unwisely, snorted. "She could try."

"I only stopped her because it would've ended up bad for everyone," he justified, not wanting Tsukishima to think for one second that he did that to help him. "Next time, I won't."

Tsukishima didn't say a word. If he did, Kageyama probably would've lashed out. The setter waved good bye to the startled members of the volleyball team before he took off after his cousin, praying to God she hadn't broken anything quite yet.

* * *

Mikaela's third day of school was pretty much the same as the first two.

It was when she was thinking of posters and advertising the volleyball club when she accidentally bumped in Yachi in the hallways. Yachi, a short, sweet girl with blonde hair had been her tour guide on the first day of school. The girl was incredibly bubbly and Mikaela had been impressed by the organization of her notebooks and artistic designs of the covers. Yachi had mentioned that her mother was a designer.

"Oof! Sorry, Mikaela-san," Yachi said in embarrassment. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"I was looking for you," she said immediately.

The blonde's eyes widened. "You- You were? Why?"

Mikaela pursed her lips. "...Can you help me out with something?"

Yachi's lips parted and she listened to Mikaela in rapt attention, drinking in every word. She nodded feverishly when the black-haired girl had finished. "Yes, I'd love to help! That sounds like fun!"

"It wouldn't be too much trouble, right?" she questioned.

Yachi shook her head furiously. "Not at all! When can I stop by and take pictures?"

"Tomorrow," Mikaela replied in relief, "for their practice game."

She flashed Mikaela a big thumbs up, smiling brightly. "Thank you for the opportunity!"

"No, thank _you_ , Yachi-chan," she replied in relief.

The sweet, talented, smart blonde girl had agreed to help design posters to advertise the Karasuno Boys' Volleyball Club. Mikaela didn't have much experience with friends, but she realized just how kind some people could be.

* * *

 _She started in complete disbelief at her father, unbelieving and completely dumbfounded. There was no way. But Kageyama was avoiding her eyes. Somehow, some part in her mind knew it was true, but with all her heart, she wanted to believe it wasn't._

 _"You're lying." She stated it, plain and clear. "I love volleyball. It's practically my life. There's no way..."_

 _Her father met her eyes, his gaze full of sorrow and hurt._

 _"Tobio," she murmured. "Come on, look at me."_

 _He did. He tilted his head up quickly, his frozen poker face studying her painfully. "Kags. It's not true, is it? There's nothing that could stop me from playing volleyball. Right?" She grabbed his hand, which had been resting on the edge of the bed. She squeezed tightly. "You were going to be the best setter. I would be the best spiker. And that can't happen if I can't play volleyball. But I can."  
_

 _"Kaisha," her father whispered, head studying the ground. "It's been a day and a half since the accident."_

 _Her head spun. Thirty-six hours? Why was she unconscious so long?_

 _"Do you know what happened to you?" he continued quietly._

 _She frowned. "I don't care. Broken legs and ankles can heal." She knew it wasn't her arms, because they were free of injury and bandages. "Scars? That's fine. They'll heal. I pulled a muscle or something? Just need some time. I'm not a libero anymore, so bruising my legs constantly isn't too much of a big deal."_

 _"Mikaela."_

 _Her father used her last name. He NEVER used her last name._

 _"You should see your leg."_

 _Kageyama bolted upright, tearing his hand out of her grip. "What? She shouldn't-"_

 _"If she's going to accept it," her father whispered tiredly, in too much emotional pain to speak louder, "she needs to see it."_

 _"I can stomach it," she assured Kageyama. But then, why was his face so deathly pale? Her cousin was almost shaking. The numbness in her legs was cold. What exactly had she done?_

 _Her father moved to the layers of blankets. Now, it was Kageyama grabbing her hand, and both of the cousins sat together, panicked. Mikaela's head was spinning._

 _Her father lifted the blankets._

 _Kageyama's free hand flew to his mouth in shock and horror, but he was unable to tear his widened eyes away. He, evidently, hadn't seen her leg yet either. Sweat dripped down his skin._

 _Mikaela looked down. She was_ not _prepared for this._

 _"My..."_

 _Then she screamed loudly, and then nurses were running in to see what was wrong, and she was sobbing uncontrollably into Kageyama's shoulder, who was squeezing her tightly as if the pain was his own. Mikaela couldn't stop screaming and sobbing, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't wipe the images from her head. Her volleyball-driven motivation, her pride, her passion, seemed to rot and die._

 _She really wasn't ever going to play volleyball again._

* * *

No. No, she _had_ to.

* * *

 **I'm blown away by the lovely support so far- so many follows in only two weeks! Thank you all so much, you have no idea how much this means to me.**

 **Hope your holidays are going well! See you next week!~**


	5. The Practice Game

**Many many thanks to ShyStars, x. macaroon .x, Bookwormit, Aoi Hana9, froduction, sana123, blackwolfe99, FlyingWolf11, SilverIcy, TECHNICALpanda, and MusicLover315 for your follows / favourites / reviews! Thank you thank you thank you! :)**

* * *

Mikaela arrived at the gym at 4:30 for Karasuno's practice game against Ouginishi High School. She was wearing her new jacket- God, it was _so_ comfortable- and long black track pants. When she got there, some of the boys were already warming up, and Shimizu was waving at her.

"Could you set up folding chairs on that side of the court, Mikaela?" she asked. "Eight of them?"

"Sure," she replied, hauling away folding chairs to set up the court. Her head was buzzing- she was really looking forwards to seeing Kageyama and Hinata's killer quick.

"Mikaela-san!" Hinata called out. "Do you need help?!"

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. And just Mikaela."

Mikaela's eyes widened as Hinata smacked himself across the face with both hands, huffing. "We absolutely won't lose," he said, the aura around him changing from exciting and friendly to serious and dark in less than a second. She blinked, then grinned. The tiny boy had such a strong drive to win.

"Mikaela-chan!" she heard someone yell. Mikaela turned around, and saw Yachi running towards her, carrying a camera and dressed in a pale collared shirt and pants. "I came!"

"Thank you so much," the black-haired girl replied, smiling. "And just Mikaela is fine." Shimizu nodded at them both- Mikaela had proposed her idea to the manager, who had run it through with the coach and teacher and had agreed.

Yachi smiled sheepishly, and just before Hinata could bombard her with questions, Daichi called them over to line up. Shimizu gestured for Mikaela to join as well, and Mikaela couldn't help but notice how tall everyone else on the other teams were. Volleyball players were huge. When she played, she was decently tall- standing at five foot seven. Boys were a completely different level.

Everyone started warming up, and Mikaela ran around with Shimizu, helping set everything up. Then, Daichi called, "We're starting soon, so get changed."

The boys all murmured in assent, and to Mikaela's surprise, starting stripping off their shirts right in front of her. Her face flushed red as Shimizu whispered, "You'll get used to it." But Mikaela's didn't know if she'd ever get used to it. Some of them were easy on the eyes, too... She shook herself as they finished changing into Karasuno's signature dark blue and orange.

"They're all so disorganized," she murmured aloud, smirking.

Shimizu laughed. "Yeah, but when they play, they sync together really well."

Mikaela watched. The line of the volleyball court almost seemed to be an alternate universe- on one side, the team was loud, funny, and goofy, and when they passed the line, the atmosphere changed and everything got serious. She watched the ace's spikes and the vicious power behind them with awe. Daichi's receives were incredibly dependable and stable, and always managed to get to the setter. Nothing she could do, of course.

And then Hinata moved so fast she nearly missed it. He was up in the blink of an eye, and Mikaela watched in fascination as Kageyama's set sailed straight under his palm. She beamed wildly- Kageyama was matching up with someone, for the first time.

"A delay of even one step," Shimizu murmured from beside her, "and they'll already be unable to catch him."

"His speed is incredible," she agreed. Then, she frowned.

Shimizu watched her. "What is it?"

"The only problem is," Mikaela said quietly, "Hinata doesn't have much choice of what he's doing when he spikes. I'll bet other teams catch on quickly, and as fast as it is, it becomes easy to predict the ball's course."

Shimizu stared at her with wide eyes. "You know volleyball pretty well."

Mikaela shrugged. "Yeah."

The set ended with Karasuno's victory. Yachi was bouncing all over the place. "That was so fast! And so... so..."

"It was like, swoosh! And then gwaa!" Hinata finished for her. "Wait, who're you?"

Mikaela left them to get acquainted and walked over to Kageyama, who was guzzling water. "Not too bad. Actually, really good."

"Not bad?" he snapped, smirking. "My sets were perfect."

"I was talking about the team," she said with a laugh, "but that too."

"Their conversation," the blond boy mused, staring pointedly at Yachi and Hinata, "makes absolutely no sense." Mikaela had to agree with the blond asshole. Hinata's immaturity was contagious sometimes.

She narrowed her eyes. "What's your name?"

At first, the blond boy didn't realize she was talking to him. She repeated her question, and he raised his eyebrows. "Tsukishima Kei. Why?"

"So I don't have to keep labeling you as 'that asshole'," she grumbled under her breath. Tsukishima wasn't meant to hear that, but he did, and he glowered at her. She glared right back. Tsukishima's friend, Yamaguchi, started snickering before sealing his mouth tightly.

"You're even more irritating than the King," he scoffed, adjusting his glasses.

Kageyama rolled his eyes, scoffing, as his cousin and his team mate glared each other down. Eventually, Sugawara stepped in. "Erm, it's time for the second set." Kageyama and Yamaguchi had to physically drag the two away from each other. Sugawara vowed to keep them away from each other at all costs- the girl was more like Kageyama than he had expected.

The game went on to Karasuno's victory. Mikaela introduced Yachi to all the team members, and the small girl was easily intimidated by the rest of the players. Hinata was jumping around and talking to her with such passion in his voice that you would've thought they'd known each other forever.

Shimizu tapped her on the shoulder. "Mikaela, you met the coach briefly yesterday, right?" She nodded- she met him, but mostly was just talking with Takeda-sensei about forms and such. "Well, this is coach Ukai."

Mikaela whirled around, coming face-to-face with a tall blond man with a scowl. "Mikaela Kaisha." She stuck out a hand, tried a smile, and the man grasped her hand and shook it firmly. She'd only got to talk to him for a few minutes at the last practice- he had been busy organizing drills and dashing in and out of the gym.

"Have you played volleyball before?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding, "in Junior High. Not so much anymore."

He didn't press her on it. "I heard you talking about Hinata and Kageyama's quick set during the game."

Mikaela's face reddened. "Y- Yeah. I've known Kageyama all my life, it was just a surprise to see him matching up with someone for the first time. Hinata's got the speed for it too. The game was great."

"I mean the improvement part," Ukai pressed. "You think it can be improved."

She blinked. "Well, yeah. Can't everything?"

He chuckled. "How'd you like to come to Tokyo in about two weeks? For a training camp?"

Mikaela's eyes widened. "That'd be fantastic! I mean, if you'd have me."

Ukai laughed, and Mikaela began to relax. "Sure, why not? Besides, you've got some sharp eyes. I want to see what else you pick up." She blushed under the praise and the coach wandered off with Shimizu. She felt giddy.

Even if she wasn't supposed to play volleyball, this was as close as she was going to get.

* * *

"Kaisha," Kageyama asked as they were walking home. Mikaela about a five or ten minute walk away from him, so walking home together was easy. "Can you help me with something?"

The black-haired girl looked up in surprise. Kageyama _never_ asked anyone for help, not even her. "What is it?"

His cheeks reddened. "S... Studying."

"Studying?!" she gasped, then burst into laughter. "Right, you're got tests coming up!" Because she had only arrived at Karasuno a few days ago, the principal had already informed her that she was excused from the tests. Kageyama's face reddened even further as she giggled. "Wow, I never thought prideful Tobio would ever stoop low enough to ask for help."

"It was either you or Tsukishima," Kageyama scowled, avoiding eye contact. "And it's a bigger blow to my pride if I ask him for help than you."

Mikaela grinned wildly. "Yup, I'll help you." Kageyama relaxed visibly. "But... You owe me!"

"Whatever," he grumbled, and Mikaela started laughing again.

* * *

 _Oikawa and Iwaizumi came to visit her the next day. After school hours, of course._

 _It had taken twenty-four hours until she was completely calmed down. The shock had been too much, she had thrown up, cried, and screamed way too much. She yelled, complained, cried, slept, and ultimately shut down for twenty hours until she finally shut up and accepted the medicine that the doctors gave her. 'Back to normal'. Yeah, right. Mikaela didn't think she'd ever go back to normal._

 _"Hey," she managed with a watery smile as Iwaizumi sat down on the chair next to her bed. Oikawa occupied the chair next to him._

 _"You," her senpai said bluntly, his face completely neutral, "are an absolute idiot. More than your idiot cousin."_

 _"I know."_

 _"You could've died."_

 _"I know!"_

 _He heaved a breath. "Seriously, are you okay?"_

 _"Do you know what happened?" she asked quietly, gesturing lamely to her legs that were covered by sheets. Iwaizumi nodded stiffly. Oikawa stared at the sheets as if he had X-Ray vision and could see through them. "Then you know I'm not okay."_

 _"Mikaela," Oikawa said quietly. "You-"_

 _"Can't play volleyball ever again," she snapped, wiping furiously at her eyes again as more tears began to form. "I know! I know I was stupid, I've already heard it all. But I've paid my price, okay?" The tears started falling again, and their presence annoyed and shamed Mikaela to no end. "I let you down. All that training we did went to waste. I'm so sorry, Iwaizumi." She hiccuped. "Senpai."_

 _Iwaizumi almost laughed. "Mikaela, working with you was never a waste."_

 _She gestured furiously at her legs._

 _Oikawa's eyes fluttered back and forth between the two, like an interesting tennis match. "I got to see your match in Junior High," he reminded her. "The finals, remember? You even got that nickname, right?"_

 _She blinked rapidly, nodding._

 _"Even if that training was only for those few weeks you had as wing spiker, I'm really happy I trained you." He hesitated. "I'm proud of you."_

 _Mikaela's jaw dropped. Iwaizumi was never big on words. This motivational speech was so unlike Iwaizumi (normally, it was 'shut up, you're fine, get back to work' sort of thing) that she felt like she was going to cry again. She pushed herself forward and fell on Iwaizumi in a hug._

 _"That was mushy, even for you, Iwa-chan," Oikawa grumbled as Iwaizumi awkwardly patted her on the back._

 _Iwaizumi helped ease her back into the hospital bed, smirking. "Knowing you, Mikaela, you'll probably figure out a way to play volleyball anyways." They all laughed halfheartedly. "Are you going to stay in Niiyama?"_

 _She shook her head. "No. I wouldn't be able to stand having to walk the halls with some of them. They're kind of mean." She sighed. "Well, I'd_ try _to walk."_

 _"You going to come to Aoba Johsai?" Oikawa asked, leaning forwards. "Mika-chan, you could be our manager."  
_

 _Mikaela almost laughed at the little nickname Oikawa only used when he knew she had no chance of hitting him. "I think I'm going to go to Karasuno. With Kageyama." Oikawa screwed up his face, disgusted at the mention of the prodigy. Iwaizumi laughed._

 _"Well, you've still got to come and see our matches," Oikawa huffed. "This is going to be the year we beat Shiratorizawa."_

 _"I promise," she said, smiling._

 _Iwaizumi's gaze wavered to her leg. "What... What're they going to do about your leg?"_

 _Mikaela frowned. "I- I'm not sure. There's no way I'm going to be in a wheelchair. Never."_

 _"Imagine, Mika-chan being pushed around by Tobio-kun in a wheelchair," Oikawa snickered. Iwaizumi swatted him in the head, and the brunet grumbled, rubbing the spot that Iwaizumi had hit._

 _"No way," Mikaela said, smiling._

 _"Mikaela would push herself around," Iwaizumi argued, "not let anyone else help her."_

 _"I'd rather hop around on one foot," she added. "A wheelchair would slow me down!"_

 _"Or-"_

 _Iwaizumi was interrupted when a female nurse wandered into the room. "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but visiting hours are just about over."_

 _The two boys stood up. Mikaela smiled sadly at them. "Thanks so much for coming, Iwaizumi. I feel a lot better." She caught the setter's reproachful stare. "And you too, Oikawa."_

 _He snorted. "Iwa-chan dragged me here."_

 _The ace's face reddened. "I did not!"_

 _"You promised me milk bread if I came," Oikawa reminded him._

 _Iwaizumi shook his head. "You wanted to go, just admit it."_

 _"Thank you for coming to see me, Oikawa-senpai," Mikaela said with a laugh._

 _Oikawa's eyes widened at the honorific Mikaela added. "Huh. Fine. You're welcome." Iwaizumi shot her an exasperated look and they both shared a grin before the boys were escorted from the room._

 _She lay her head back on her pillow and was granted with a dreamless sleep._

* * *

 **TECHNICALpanda:** Wow, I'm impressed XD I won't say anything else yet... not that its overly suspenseful but I'll still keep it secret for now ;) Thank you so much for your review! :) :)

 **MusicLover315:** Thank you so much! Thank you for your review! :) :)

 **Aaaaaand our computer broke at home. Sigh. I'm using my work computer right now to update this (shh don't tell anyone ;D ) and our computer should be fixed by Wednesday. Hopefully.**

 **I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Happy new year!**

 **I hope to hear from you! Thank you for reading! :)**


	6. The Study Session

**Thank you so much to FlyingWolf11, Kasandra Soto, LuciansLycanNightShade, MissDoeProngsRose, Forgotten Cross, AmIValid2, Aishh, and TECHNICALpanda for your support! Thank you so much! :)**

* * *

They all gathered in the gym after practice. Yachi thanked the team for having her, and they responded with a lot of enthusiasm, scaring the small blonde girl. Mikaela wanted to laugh. She rubbed her right thigh- her leg was acting up again. She shook it out.

"Now," Sawamura said, his voice low and serious, "All we have left are the tests..."

Kageyama and Hinata visibly gulped and hung their heads. To Mikaela's surprise, Tanaka and Nishinoya's faces went blank, and they pressed their hands together in front of their chests as if they were praying to a god. Mikaela smirked at them all. She'd been excused from this set of tests due to her timely arrival at Karasuno. After the practice was over, Hinata, Kageyama, Yachi and herself made plans to study at Yachi's house on Saturday.

Studying was actually highly entertaining. Hinata struggled with nearly everything, and Kageyama was clueless. Mikaela lost her patience close to the beginning, and if it wasn't for Yachi, she probably would've lashed out at the freak duo without meaning to. Yachi helped Hinata work on word answers while Mikaela went through kanji with Kageyama over and over again to drill it into his head.

They finished up after two hours or so. Hinata was excited to finish. "With this, we'll ace the tests!" Mikaela didn't miss the "probably!" he threw on the end. "Thanks for helping us, Yachi-san and Mikaela-san!"

Kageyama bowed slightly. "Thank you."

"Just Mikaela is fine," the raven-haired girl scolded Hinata. Yachi beamed and said it was no problem at all.

"Hey," the setter wondered, "this place is near Shiratorizawa, isn't it?"

Mikaela's eyes widened. She hadn't noticed, and she was surprised that Kageyama had. Yachi nodded. "Oh, yeah. I think it's two stops before ours by train." Shiratorizawa was home to Ushijima, the famous volleyball ace. Mikaela looked up to him a lot, and found herself seeing a lot of similar traits: he was the ace for his team, a lefty, and had incredibly strong spikes, from what she'd heard.

She pondered this. Ushijima...

"Do you have some business with me?"

Hinata must've said his name out loud. Slowly, and with an aura of terror surrounding them (temporarily, of course), Kageyama, Hinata, and Mikaela turned around, finding themselves facing a slightly sweaty yet still good looking Ushijima Wakatoshi. Her eyes widened- she never thought she'd meet him in person.

"If not, I'll be on my way," he said, moving on.

He was so humble. So... Normal.

"We came here from Karasuno," Kageyama called suddenly, breaking into a jog after Ushijima. "Would you let us do reconnaissance on Shiratorizawa?" Mikaela was tempted to smack her cousin- they didn't know the guy! For the sake of professionalism around a role model, she held herself back.

"Karasuno," the ace mused, thoughtful, "the team that uses a strange quick strike."

 _So he knows about that._

"Do whatever you want. No matter how capable you lot may be, you'll see that we never weaken." Ushijimi kept running. "I'm returning to school. If you want to watch us, follow me. If you're able to keep up, that is."

Mikaela's jaw dropped. One, he had _agreed._ Two, he wasn't as humble as she thought.

She expected it, but it was still funny to see her cousin's face scrunch up. Hinata's face went blank. Then, they both shrugged, and started stretching. Yachi was gaping in disbelief. "We're going along," Kageyama declared, lunging forwards in a stretch. "They're an opponent we'll defeat at Spring High, so there's no harm in looking-"

Screw professionalism. Mikaela's hand sailed into the back of her cousin's head. "Ow!" he complained.

"That's not something you say in front of your opponents," she snapped, "no matter what your goals are, you idiot. Don't you have a filter?"

"Says you," Kageyama sassed back, scowling.

Hinata was asking Ushijima if he was doing roadwork by himself, but Ushijima had narrowed his eyes and was staring thoughtfully at Mikaela. She squirmed slightly, then calmed the butterflies in her stomach. God, his stare was creepy. "Have I seen you somewhere before?" he asked. Kageyama, Hinata, and Yachi both stared at her in confusion.

Mikaela swallowed. _Yes, you have._ "No." He raised his eyebrows. "You haven't," she insisted.

"Kaisha," Kageyama said, breaking the tension, "you just going to catch the train home?"

She nodded, well aware that Ushijima was still staring at her. "Yeah. I am." She turned around, already walking away, but then she turned back. "Ushijima-san?" she said. He didn't say anything. "Don't go easy on them."

Mikaela walked away as fast as her leg would allow, trying as hard as possible to get away from the Shiratorizawa ace.

* * *

Tests were the next day.

Results came in the day after.

Mikaela spent half of her day off from doing tests at home, and half at the school gym. It was open during the day, and she spent a while trying out her serve for volleyball. She couldn't do jump serves, not a chance (yet) but her regular serves were coming along fine. Nothing on Oikawa or Kageyama, though. The only thing she had going for her serves was her power. Compared to the other volleyball girls, she was strong. But without a jump serve, it was difficult to display that.

Then her muscles had started cramping up, and she'd stopped immediately.

The doctors had warned her. If she continued to exert herself physically, the other muscles in her body, especially her left leg, would be required to work overtime to make up for the injury. Thus, causing major cramps and pains in her uninjured leg. And her injured leg too, but that was a given.

Had she listened? Not exactly.

But she took medication. Two pills in the morning, one at night. They helped the muscles relax, to try and prevent cramping that would easily happen without the medication. "You have to take these consistently," she remembered the doctor urging, "Or else your muscles may cramp up even if you're only doing something simple, like walking. You need these. Always have them on you."

Blah, blah, blah. She'd taken them. They tasted disgusting.

The day of the results, Mikaela went in to school with her cousin and he got his results back. She wasn't very sure he would pass everything, but she knew he would rather die than miss volleyball training camp.

Hinata failed English. With a mark of 21 out of 100, when the cut off grade was 40.

Mikaela felt horrible for him. He had everything right, too; just put everything down a blank off. He had just made one simple mistake that cost him the test. Kageyama was _so close_ to passing contemporary lit- 38 out of 100. Yet his kanji was perfect.

"You gonna run?" Kageyama growled through clenched teeth.

"Bike, of course," the orange-haired boy growled back, shaking.

Sugawara sighed. Mikaela smirked. Of course they were still planning to go. Kageyama wouldn't be Kageyama if he missed training camp. Tanaka and Nishinoya had passed, however, and Mikaela was pulled onto the bus ride to Tokyo, sporting grey track pants, a white t-shirt, and her new Karasuno Boys Volleyball Club jacket. She spent the long ride talking about the players with Coach Ukai, who knew the team and the game very well. She learned of some of their plays and some of their attack strategies, then theorised about new ones. Surprisingly, the ride was actually enjoyable.

Then, they met Nekoma.

Mikaela didn't recognize anyone, of course. There was a weird guy with a mohawk, a tall guy with spiky black hair who she found out later was the team captain, and short guy who had his nose buried in a video game, and a few others. Some of them were pretty weird.

The guy with the mohawk fell to his knees in front of Shimizu and herself. _"The girls have multiplied!"_ he wailed as if praising them to some sort of god. Mikaela blinked rapidly. Shimizu sighed- a sigh that said, "this happens a lot".

"Take a good look, Tora," Tanaka claimed triumphantly, standing in front of the two managers. "This is the sanctity of Karasuno." The other boy mumbled something about the brightness while Shimizu tugged on Mikaela's arm. Mikaela didn't need telling twice, and they both edged away from the overly enthusiastic volleyball players. _This couldn't get any weirder._

There were at least around one hundred boys in the huge gymnasium, and Mikaela gasped. They were all warming up, hitting volleyballs around and practicing. Some players had kneepads, and a few who had longer hair wore headbands. Mikaela found herself aching to be the one on the court.

 _Stupid leg._

Karasuno went through practice games, plenty of them. And they lost every single one. They took laps of flying falls around the court, and Mikaela was half-glaring at them as they went. Not intentionally, of course- but Karasuno wasn't doing too well without Kageyama. And Hinata, of course. But without them, the team wasn't falling apart, but instead was just weak. Much weaker than usual. Kageyama seemed to increase the strength of Karasuno, only based on what she had seen in their practice game earlier and then today. She was spending the time with Shimizu, trying to understand their game play, but she couldn't get a full grasp of it without their starting setter and decoy.

They lost to Fukurodani and proceeded to fulfil their punishment when the door flew open. A girl rushed in who really resembled Tanaka- his sister, maybe?- and behind her was Mikaela's cousin. She smiled in relief as he bustled into the gym, followed closely by Hinata.

The two boys changed into gym clothes, and their arrival seemed to shake up the gym. They won their next game 25 to 21. Night had long since fallen, and the gym was closing up.

"What'd you think?"

Mikaela blinked. It was Coach Ukai.

"They're great," she replied slowly, her eyebrows narrowed. "But... But it's like I thought. The other teams caught on. Eventually, but they did. It's going to be like that all the time."

He nodded along, and realising she had more to say, motioned for her to continue. "Everyone can improve," she said earnestly. "And there's a lot of different things they can try that could shake up a game."

"Such as?" Ukai asked.

Mikaela smirked slightly. "Something that my- I mean, the Niiyama Girl's Team used in their practices. A two-touch point."

"Two touch?" Ukai repeated, raising an eyebrows.

She nodded. "Yeah. In some cases, like a free ball that goes right to the setter or something. It's not necessary to use three hits. If it comes to Kageyama first thing, there's no reason he can't set it up for Hinata. You know, there're some crafty players out there who turn the worst situations into favorable ones by sending a crazy ball to the other team's setter. So we can twist that into a surprise weapon."

Mikaela was afraid that she'd lost him, or her idea sounded crazy. He was blinking at her, and the wave of unease settled. "Will it not work? I mean-"

"That's not bad," he said slowly. "Especially if we want to throw the opponent off. I hadn't thought of that."

Heat rushed to her face from the praise.

"And you're not a newbie to volleyball."

Mikaela winced. "Yeah, I played on Kitagawa Daiichi's team back in Junior High."

"What did you play?" he asked.

The black-haired girl sighed. "I played libero for two and a half years, and then I switched to wing spiker. Mostly because I couldn't stand not being on offense." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "The position was kind of forced on me in my first year."

Ukai nodded slowly. "Get some rest." Mikaela could almost see the gears spinning in his head.

She smiled. "Good night, Coach."

* * *

 _"Mikaela," her mother said strictly, "what the hell were you thinking?"_

 _She winced. "Mom-"_

 _"This is what happens," she snapped, "when you leave my side! Going to live with your father was a bad idea. Thank the gods you're living with me now-"_

 _"Mom!" Mikaela covered her ears with her hands. "Dad has nothing to do with this!"_

 _Her mother whirled at her, and yelled fiercely, "I said to focus on your studies! You were getting too into volleyball! It was consuming all your spare time, that could've gone to studying, or volunteer work, or something other than volleyball!"  
_

 _"Mother!" she cried in exasperation. "I've been getting eighties and nineties. Those marks are above average-"_

 _"They could all be above ninety," her mother snapped, "if you had given up volleyball back in Junior High."_

 _They had a glare-off. Mikaela was absolutely speechless._ She's just in shock from my accident, _she told herself. But it didn't feel like it at all- everything her mother said felt like a knife to the heart. Of course, it had been several days since the incident, and she only chose to show up now._

 _"At least," she breathed, turning to the door, "you can't play volleyball anymore."_

 _Instead of shattering, her heart hardened._

 _"Watch me," she scowled.  
_

 _Her mother glared at her, and left._

* * *

 **Hello again!~ Thank you for reading chapter 6 of _How To Fly With Clipped_ Wings. Our computer has been fixed so I rushed out this chapter, so I hope it's okay. **

**I'm really going to be diving into Mikaela's family life. Is this chapter, you kind of get the first view of her mother- but it's a lot worse than that. She'll pose quite the problem in upcoming chapter ;)**

 **TECHNICALpanda:** You're so sweet, thank you so much :) :)

 **Have a great day! :)**


	7. The Fight

**So thankful for Retsej, SociallyAwkwardHumanBeing, blue-rae-1008, PocketDream, OddPai, and Guest for your support! Thank you!**

* * *

Shimizu and Mikaela got their own room, away from the boys. But she could still hear the countless arguments and debates they had over the silliest things from her room. But, to her surprise, they didn't annoy her. They made her laugh, smiling as she went to sleep.

The next day, Mikaela focused on recording. Watching the other team, watching their own team, recording important points. Karasuno began their practice game with Nekoma- which was good, because the boys were really fired up to do it, and Mikaela could watch and see how the team dealt with the quick strike and what the other team could do in return. She was given a pad of paper, though she'd barely used it so far.

Hinata looked troubled. She didn't know why, but he did.

The short boy blew one past the tall Nekoma player's hands, making it 2 to 1 for Karasuno. But, as the next point began and Hinata jumped up to spike again, the tall player was there. He blocked it and the ball fell down on Karasuno's side of the court. Mikaela bit her lip and glared at the notepad. Only four points in.

"Oi, Hinata," Kageyama was saying as she tuned back into the game, "let's switch to normal quicks." Hinata ignored him at first, then nodded slowly.

Mikaela frowned. Kageyama was smart.

She glared at the other players. The short number 5 with dyed blonde and brown hair was motioning to the tall blocker.

But Nekoma was smarter. She knew it.

"Kags!" she called out suddenly. Her cousin whirled around to face her. "Stay with the freak quick," she said, more quietly.

Kageyama looked like he was going to protest, then Mikaela shot daggers at him. He nodded and relayed the information to Hinata, who looked confused and started arguing with the setter. Mikaela rolled her eyes- they were so funny to watch sometimes.

Tanaka made a steady receive, right to Kageyama. Mikaela clenched her fists.

But she had nothing to worry about. Kageyama set the ball up so fast that the tall blocker on the other team missed it- he was attempting read blocking, Mikaela noticed. She narrowed her eyes at him. The ball hit the ground between two of the Nekoma players- a campfire. She smirked. 3 to 2 for Karasuno. Her cousin turned to her and she flashed him a thumbs up.

Ukai leaned over. "How'd you know to stay with the freak quick?"

Mikaela frowned. It was a question he already knew the answer to, but he wanted to know what she was thinking. Like she was being tested. "Because as smart as my cousin is, and as much as he tries to stay one step ahead of Nekoma, they're a smart team. Smarter than Kageyama. Their setter especially," she noted, watching the short boy, "knows what he's doing. If Kageyama is one step ahead of them, they're at least three steps ahead of him."

The next ball that Kageyama sent to Azumane (she finally learned his name!) was tipped by the block, again by the tall Nekoma player. She gritted her teeth. "That guy's a bit of a newbie. He keeps looking to their setter for instructions on where to go. But he's got crazy fast reflexes, and when he gets better, he'll be scary."

"He's not scary now?" Shimizu mused.

Mikaela laughed. "He lacks experience."

"I'm surprised you could tell," Ukai said thoughtfully. Mikaela shrugged casually, heat rushing to her cheeks, and went back to the game. The tall Nekoma player spiked it down, taking the point. Ukai called a time out.

Mikaela grabbed a cart of water bottles and passed them around, earning muttered "thank you"s and grateful glances. Coach Ukai started talking, "For now, use Azumane and Tanaka as the pivot of attack against Nekoma." The boys nodded in agreement. Mikaela recollected water bottles as they went around, and to her surprise, the coach turned to her. "Mikaela, anything you want to add?"

Everyone turned her way. She gulped and shifted awkwardly. Kageyama gave her an encouraging stare (as she liked to call it), and she mustered, "Change it up a bit, if you can. Nekoma won't be the last team to catch on so quickly."

"OSU!" the boys cheered. Mikaela nearly flinched from the enthusiasm and scurried away as they went back on the court.

Kageyama received Nekoma's spike with difficulty, but Sawamura took the second hit and sent it to Azumane. The ace reared up in preparation for a powerful spike.

Mikaela saw it coming a mile away. Hinata jumped at the same time, aiming for the volleyball. They collided, and the ace kept his balance, but Hinata tumbled to the ground. Everyone shouted and gathered around Hinata.

The black-haired girl winced and (after realizing that everyone was okay) started scribbling furiously in her notebook. Ukai noticed this out of the corner of eye before he began his scolding to the orange-haired boy. Mikaela frowned. The atmosphere was completely different now. Everyone seemed more tense.

"Hey, Kageyama," Hinata said aloud, "I'm going to stop closing my eyes."

Ukai blinked rapidly before he looked at Mikaela. She flipped the page in her notebook, scribbling out kanji so fast that Ukai's eyes couldn't keep up. All of it was her notes- ideas for future game plans, problems with specific parts of the game or players, or different things that should be changed or improved. She was scribbling with her right hand with such intensity that he was glad he gave her a pen and not a pencil- the lead would've easily snapped. She burned through that page and started another, before she huffed, shook out her hand, and started writing with her left hand.

Thank whatever god was out there that she was ambidextrous. Ukai, however, had already looked away and didn't notice.

Hinata was explaining his point of view to Kageyama. "It's no good the way things are now," he explained to Kageyama. His shell-shocked team mates stood around him, completely silent. "I can't have you enabling me to hit the quick."

"We do it this way because you couldn't on your own," her cousin retorted sharply, "You remember what happened when we tried the normal quick strike. I don't know what's on your mind, but I'll listen to it later. However, if you're saying that you'll start immediately, I'll tell you now, I have no intention to toss to someone who I know will miss."

If Mikaela was on the court, she would've smacked Kageyama. Hell, she would've smacked both of them. She understood what he was saying, but the furious look on Hinata's face showed that he didn't like it. Kageyama was Kageyama, so of course he put it that way. But still.

The rest of the game, things became strained between the two. The entire team was shaken up. They ended up losing. But she could tell the entire team was thinking about what Hinata said.

 _"It's no good the way things are now."_

She felt a sense of pride for Hinata. The way he stood up to Kageyama like that. The way he didn't hold back.

Takeda-sensei started talking to the boys, but Mikaela was no long listening. She was reviewing the scribbles she had made in her notebook. Shimizu glanced over her shoulder, and her face paled.

Her writing was so messy that she had no clue how Mikaela understood it.

Hinata and Kageyama went out of the gym to talk to Sugawara. Ukai left to find them. The others used the time to rest. Mikaela bit her lip before she ripped one page cleanly (but loudly) out of her notebook, earning a few stares. She ignored them all and kept scribbling.

* * *

Lev saw the set from Kenma go up, and he spiked it down. The practice set resulted in a loud smack against the court floor. "Yes!" he cheered.

"That would've gone right to the libero," Kenma said with a bored tone.

Lev's face flamed up. "It would not! How do you know?!" But Kenma had already started preparing the next set for the next spiker. The tall first year scurried out of the way, huffing. He walked around towards the end of the line.

Then, he got chills.

Chills down the back of his spine.

Lev turned around swiftly. There was a black-haired girl glaring at him with narrowed eyes. Her eyes were a cold midnight blue. She was glaring at him with such intensity that it made Lev shiver. _She's scary!_

"She looks a lot like Kageyama-kun," a voice said, and he whipped around to see his captain, Kuroo. Kuroo smirked at him, and then back at the volleyball assistant manager for the Karasuno team. "Yeah, she's pretty freaky." He kept moving to his spot in line.

The chills down Lev's spine never really left until she tipped her head down and started writing faster than humanly possible.

She was dangerous. And scary. And she wasn't even on the court!

Were all volleyball managers like this!?

* * *

The bus ride home was quiet. Tension was high. Mikaela sat next to Shimizu, and occasionally scribbled things down in her notebook. Contrary to Shimizu's belief, Mikaela _could_ read what she had written. Her scribbles were a language only she could understand. When they got back, Takeda-sensei announced that the school was doing maintenance work on the gymnasium the following day, so they should use it to rest up.

Mikaela bit her lip. She could spend the time neatening out her notes...

Kageyama and Hinata rushed into the gym as everyone else left and started to put up the nets. Mikaela sighed, smiled, and rushed into the gym to help. Kageyama thanked her quietly, and Hinata nodded her way, which was very unlike him. He was typically enthusiastic.

She frowned. It must be the quick set problem. Her notes mentioned that.

"Mikaela-san," Hinata called, "could you put the ball up for us, just for a bit?"

"Drop the honorifics," she insisted, "but sure."

She grabbed the volleyball cart and picked out a volleyball, squeezing it in her hand. God, she missed volleyball. She tossed it up to Kageyama like she had done so many times since second grade, and he set it up. Hinata missed. He missed, he missed, and he missed again. He was too distracted by the ball to jump high enough. But the orange-haired boy kept demanding another toss.

She grimaced as she tossed Kageyama another ball. Hinata missed again. "Can I try?" she asked suddenly.

Hinata landed on the ground and looked at her with one eyebrow raised. "Huh?"

"Can I try hitting it?" Mikaela repeated.

Hinata shrugged. "Sure! I'll toss it up for you."

The orange-haired boy and herself switched spots. Kageyama was frowning- not at her, but at Hinata. The tensions were really high right now. Mikaela tapped him on the shoulder. "Don't mess up."

This earned her a tiny smirk that vanished quickly. "I won't," he promised.

Hinata tossed the ball, a little bit off but still a high toss. Her cousin got underneath it and pushed the ball off his fingertips. Mikaela counted her steps in her head, before she pushed off, rearing back her right hand. She didn't jump very high. Her leg injury made it difficult to jump, if at all, but she still jumped high enough to reach the ball.

Mikaela whipped her arm forward and hit the falling ball with a sickening smack. It landed down on the court, and she landed. Mikaela winced as she landed on her right leg and she wobbled.

Kageyama steadied her, grabbing her back and her left arm. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she said, grinning. "That was fun."

Hinata's jaw had fallen. "Mikaela, that was great! It went all... THWAM!" He made explosive gestures with his hands.

She grinned sheepishly before she turned to him. "I'm trying to understand what you're doing that might be messing you up. I think you're just concentrating too much on the ball, so you're missing your steps and your height."

"Yeah, but-"

"Nothing wrong with that," Mikaela assured him, "it'll just take practice. Lining up your steps and stuff like that will only take practice."

"Then, let's practice!" Hinata cried with renewed energy. "Toss it to me!"

"Maybe, Kageyama..." she trailed off as her cousin cocked an eyebrow at her. The idea fled from her head. "Never mind," she murmured. "Let's try again."

They tried, again and again, but nothing worked. It just wasn't working. Mikaela started collecting the volleyballs, and the pair started fighting. She winced as she listened to them talk, and tried to stay out of it. But their words were getting significantly harsher as the conversation went on. She put her collected volleyballs in the cart. "Don't fight!"

They didn't listen. Kageyama's hand latched on to the front of Hinata's shirt.

"I want the strength to fight on my own!" Hinata bellowed, grabbing Kageyama's hands.

"You're going to destroy the team's balance with your selfishness!" Kageyama shot back, pushing Hinata away.

"Hey!" Mikaela cried, stepping forwards, then wincing. Her leg ached.

Kageyama glared down at Hinata. "I'll toss the ball to anyone, so long as they are essential for achieving victory. The same holds true, even now." Hinata gritted his teeth angrily as Kageyama turned his back on him.

She saw it coming. "Hey-"

"KAGEYAMAAAA!" Hinata cried, launching himself at her cousin. Hinata tackled Kageyama around the waist, his strength not quite enough to knock Kageyama to the floor. Mikaela gasped. This was going to get very bad, very quickly. Kageyama cried out in anger and threw the smaller boy off. Hinata tumbled to the floor before getting back up immediately, ready to pounce again.

"You idiots!" Mikaela grabbed the back of Kageyama's shirt and twirled him out of the way, and the uncoordinated spiker went sprawling past. "Shut up for a second and listen to yourselves!"

Kageyama sitffened, but Hinata was still moving. Mikaela stepped in between them. Hinata plowed into her and she stumbled. It was complete accident, she could tell, but it still hurt. She slipped on her bad leg and fell.

Kageyama was there, and he caught her before she hit the floor. "Thanks," she gasped, trying to stand herself back up.

"I'm so sorry," the orange-haired boy quipped immediately. "I-"

"Look at yourselves," Mikaela snapped, brushing off her cousin's hand. "You two are fighting, because Hinata wants to get stronger? You two could've injured yourselves. And somehow, I think you're more valuable to the team when you're not injured."

They basked in silence. Fuming, the black-haired manager continued. "You two will work it out. Evolution is easy. I know you can both get stronger and learn new things. Hinata," she snapped, "you need to stop expecting evolution immediately. It takes time, and not just one practice. I know you want to keep practicing, but the same things won't work over and over again.

"Kageyama," she continued, glaring at her cousin. "Stop hesitating."

"I-"

"You're being overcautious and wary. You don't want to risk losing the quick. Put a bit more trust in Hinata, will you? You know that the quick isn't going to be invincible, not at all."

He knew she was right. He was panting, glaring at her and Hinata.

Tanaka poked his head in the door. "Hey, what's all the yelling?!"

Mikaela threw her hands up in the air, completely ignoring him. "You two need to realize that if you want to be partners, arguing is _not_ the best thing to do. You need to talk to each other." She took her exit, marching towards the gym doors. "Kageyama, we're going home."

"Mikaela-"

"Save it," she snarled without turning around to face the apologetic Hinata. "Just sleep it off."

Mikaela marched past Tanaka, fuming, and turned onto the street, stomping away.

Her cousin trailed after her.

* * *

 _So much had happened within a week. Kageyama visited nearly every single day, and she was more than grateful. He brought her little things: her favorite volleyball, her Kitagawa Daiichi water bottle, even her Best Spiker award that she had received in Junior High. Kageyama was there for her more than ever. It was his way of showing he cared without needing to say it._

 _"You said you're coming to Karasuno now, right?" he asked her one day._

 _She nodded brightly, tossing her white and black volleyball from hand to hand as she sat up in her hospital bed. "Yep. I can't exactly play volleyball, but maybe there's a way I can join you guys or something. Do you need a manager?"_

 _Kageyama shook his head. "We've got a manager, and her name's Shimizu Kiyoko. But she might want a second hand, I can ask."_

 _"Good," Mikaela replied firmly, "because if there's a position and you don't tell me..." she glared at him._

 _Kageyama felt prickles up his spine but he smirked. "Yeah, yeah. I got it."_

 _"I just... I can't stay at Niiyama," she said with a sigh, focused intently on the volleyball. "Because... Well... You know, judgement, suddenly quitting the team." Her voice softened. "I don't know if I could tell them what happened. Kinomi already thinks I'm scared of her," she scoffed. "She was really a bother."_

 _The setter rolled his eyes. "If you're looking to avoid bothers, you may want to stay away from our team."_

 _"Why's that?"_

 _"There's Hinata," Kageyama declared angrily, and Mikaela laughed, because his eyes were lighting up and he was getting ready for one of his rants again. "He's one of the shortest yet most annoying people ever. And he's really stupid. And-"_

 _Mikaela giggled, watching her cousin complain about the annoying boy. But she knew that Kageyama didn't hate him. She could tell by the way he spoke and the glint in his eyes that this Hinata person must be someone important._

 _She'd have to meet him herself._

 _If she ever got out of the hospital._

* * *

 **Hello! I've tried to pre-write some chapters because this is exam week for me and my time is devoted to studying. Oops. Anyways, here's chapter seven! Things are getting a little more serious between Mikaela and her family in future chapters... Can't wait til we get there :)**

 **Guest:** You are such a sweet heart oh my goodness! Thank you so much, I can't even begin to describe what your praise means to me! Thank you :))

 **I'm considering a pairing for this story. I don't know exactly who yet, but I'd love to hear your thoughts! I'm thinking about Tsukishima but that would be quite the challenge to write and I don't know if I'll be able to write him properly- he's such a tricky character. Please let me know what you think!**

 **I hope to hear from you! Thank you!**

 **-Frost**


	8. The Unexpected Meet Up

**Thank you so much to Lady Liberty- The First, nityag2003, Caldonia97, kenmapplepie, KozakuraPyon, rox4787, Red raspberries, Nightstorm2018, Stalona, Sayori1412, and Guest for the wonderful support! Thank you!**

* * *

Kageyama knew better then to try and reason with his cousin before she calmed down, at least a little. Her footsteps were heavy in her sneakers, surprisingly, but she hadn't said a word the entire walk back. From the gym, Kageyama's house was further, but they started walking home together once Mikaela joined Karasuno, normally with Hinata. There was a ten minute walk to her house, and another five minutes down to his own.

He hadn't seen her this angry in a long time.

"I'm sorry," he said after a good five minutes of walking in silence.

Mikaela shrugged. "Yeah, well, nothing much more I can do about it."

"How's your leg?" he asked quietly.

She scoffed, "Feels fantastic." She was more sarcastic when she was angry. "But it's been acting up lately."

"Acting up?" Kageyama repeated.

"Yeah," Mikaela said, kicking the ground. "The little 'attacks' that the doctor mentioned feel like they're going to happen. I tried serves a couple days back, when you had your tests, and couldn't go more than fifteen minutes before my left leg seized up."

"Left?" he said in confusion. "I thought it was your right."

"It is, you idiot," Mikaela complained with no hatred behind her words, rolling her eyes, "but what they said was if I work out or stress my legs at all, my left leg has to do most of the work because of my injury, so too much work can lead to the muscles seizing up." She grimaced. "That, and I've been blowing off my physio sessions. They were pointless, really."

Kageyama exhaled slowly. "So... You really can't ever play again?"

"No," she reasoned. "I'm taking the medication they gave me every morning and every evening. Trust me, I missed one evening once and it felt like I would never walk again." Mikaela let out a dry laugh. "I miss one time, and my legs shut down. I couldn't stand. Thank the gods I had my pills within arm's reach."

"What happened?" he asked.

"I took the medication, and my legs felt fine within minutes," she replied.

Kageyama nodded slowly. "And the cases are in your bag, right?"

Mikaela nodded, and patted the blue and black backpack that was hoisted over her back, with a zippered pouch on the front. "Yep. They're both in the front pouch. There's a yellow case for the morning, and a blue case for the evening. If I ever need it, that's where they are. I should be fine, though." She huffed, then smiled, her argument with the boys forgotten. "No need to worry, idiot."

"I'm not worrying," Kageyama denied with a scowl, glaring off into the distance.

Mikaela laughed and punched him playfully in the shoulder. "I don't believe you!"

They reached a fork in the road. One path continued going straight, and another led to the right. This was where they split up- and whenever Hinata walked home with Kageyama, he would continue straight with the setter before peeling off to his own house. Mikaela turned right. "See you, Kags."

"Kaisha?" he called at the last minute before she got out of hearing range.

The black-haired girl turned around, her eyebrows knit in confusion. "What is it?"

"Tomorrow," he said slowly, "I think I'm going to go check out something. A kids program that's run by a pro. Do you want to come?"

She didn't ask why, but she nodded. "Sure, why not."

Kageyama smirked. "Good night, Kai."

"Night, Tobio."

* * *

They looked really out of place, walking through the courtyard, smaller children running circles around them. Kageyama was as stiff as a board and walked like a robot (Mikaela laughed at him behind his back) but they made their way up a set of stairs anyways. Children hustled around them, chatting excitedly. One kid accidentally bumped into Kageyama and Mikaela's cousin gave him the dirtiest glare she'd ever seen. "Sorry," the black-haired boy mumbled.

The child wailed in fear and scurried away, tears blossoming in the corners of his eyes.

"...my bad," Kageyama tried. Mikaela sighed and yanked on Kageyama's arm, dragging him away before he could do more damage.

"You're no good with kids," she said with a sigh, rolling her eyes.

Kageyama shrugged, seemingly uncaring. "We may as well go, it's done anyways-"

Mikaela was about to protest when they both paused as a familiar voice called out his familiar complaints. "Oi, add a suffix there, will you?"

"Geh!" Oikawa cried out as his face paled upon seeing the other setter.

"Uh?" Kageyama said in surprise.

"Ah?" Mikaela tried, cocking her head.

There was an awkward silence until Kageyama said, "Oikawa-san."

"Tobio," Oikawa grunted. He turned towards her, and his scowl twisted into his charming grin. "Mika-chan! Looking as pleasantly angry as always!"

Mikaela scowled, biting back a grin. "Nice to see you too, Oikawa-senpai."

Oikawa's facial features seemed to brighten upon hearing one of his favorite suffixes. He huffed happily, puffing out his chest. "Obviously! I'm just here picking up my nephew," he added as a short boy next to him waved his hand. "Alright, nice seeing you and everything, but bye."

He was already at the stairs when Kageyama snapped out of his shock and called, "Wait, Oikawa-san-"

"Don't wanna! Stupid!" the brunet shot back immediately.

Mikaela sweat-dropped. _He hasn't changed..._

"Please listen," her cousin said firmly, even dropping his pride enough to bow in front of Oikawa, "and hear what I have to say."

She was proud of his determination, even as Oikawa sneered, "Why do I have to go out of my way to listen to my opponent?" and started to the steps, his confused nephew trailing after him the whole time.

"Oikawa-" the black-haired girl interjected.

"PLEASE LISTEN!" Kageyama said, his voice nearing a screech as he propelled himself in front of his senior, red-faced. Mikaela stopped short and snorted.

The older setter considered this before handing Mikaela his phone. "Here."

"Huh?"

"Don't move, Tobio," Oikawa instructed quickly before turning to Mikaela and unlocking his phone. "Here, take a picture. You know how to operate a phone camera, right?" His voice was laced with mockery.

Mikaela scowled, tugging his phone away. "Of course I do. Don't forget I've got _your_ phone in _my_ hands."

He rolled his eyes. "Take a picture! Of Tobio indebted to Oikawa-san!"

"What?" Mikaela asked with a laugh, instead switching the camera to the selfie function and snapping a picture. "You're ridiculous."

"Tōru," his nephew complained, "you're happy with this sort of picture? How lame!"

"Hey!" Oikawa recovered with a cough, turning to Kageyama. "So, what is it? I'm a busy man, y'know."

"You said you've got free time because your girlfriend dumped you!" Oikawa's nephew piped up.

Oikawa's face shone beet red as he screeched, "Takeru, be quiet, will you?!"

(Mikaela fist-bumped him, much to Oikawa's frustration)

(And she may or may not have gotten the perfect picture of Oikawa's screech)

Now that Kageyama was given the opportunity to speak, he had trouble forming words. "Well... erm, if a competition was coming up, but... uh, say Iwaizumi-san started talking about doing some unreasonable sort of attack-"

"Hold it," Oikawa interrupted, swiping some of his fluffy brown hair out of his eyes. "If you want to talk about something, stop with the crappy examples and just say it straight."

Kageyama tried to reword his sentence as Mikaela's gaze fell to Oikawa's phone. A text notification lit up the screen.

 _ **Iwa-chan~ (14:36):** Dumbass, where are you?_

Mikaela couldn't help but laugh. Of _course_ Oikawa had a ridiculous pet name for his best friend and of course his best friend would text him of his whereabouts. Their friendship was kind of sweet, honestly. Getting an idea, Mikaela opened up Oikawa's contacts and quickly adding her number, instantly sending herself the wonderful picture she had taken of Oikawa's distraught face.

She didn't respond to Iwaizumi for him, though. That was for Oikawa.

 _ **Iwa-chan~ (14:38):** Moron, you said you'd be here right about now._

Mikaela considered responding but decided against it until the phone buzzed- Iwaizumi was calling. Mikaela clicked the phone eagerly and brought it to her ear. "Hey, Iwaizumi-senpai!"

 _"Shittykawa, where are... Wait, Mikaela?"_

"Yup," she chirped. "What's up?"

 _"Waiting for Oikawa,"_ he replied. Mikaela could almost hear him rolling his eyes. _"What's he up to?"_

Mikaela glanced up at the two setters, locked in an argument that Oikawa seemed to have the upper hand in. "Dragging my cousin through the mud, as usual. We kinda just ran into him and Kageyama's trying to get advice, but we all know how well that goes."

Iwaizumi chuckled. _"Yeah. How's-"_

"Oi! You're calling people on my phone!" Oikawa cried out accusingly. He broke away from his conversation with Kageyama to lunge at her.

Mikaela twisted at the last second and he went sprawling. "He kinda wants his phone. Here you go, nice talking to you!"

 _"You should call me,"_ Iwaizumi insisted before she brought the phone away from her ear. _"Spiking practice."_

"Definitely," she agreed, laughing, before handing a very flustered Oikawa his phone. The black-haired girl turned to Kageyama, who was red in the face and looked confused. "Are we good to go?"

"Yeah," he grumbled.

"Iwa-chan!" they heard Oikawa chirp excitedly. "Yes, yes, I'll be there soon, I promise!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. Some things never changed.

* * *

She walked with him back to Karasuno. At least, that was where they were headed when her left leg started going numb. "Kags," she breathed, nearly stumbling. "Can we take a break?"

"Is it your leg?" he asked immediately, carefully guiding her towards the grass at the side and helping her sit down.

Mikaela nodded, biting her lip. "Yeah."

"Cramps?"

"Yeah."

They sat in silence for a few seconds until Kageyama asked, "didn't you take your pills this morning?"

"I did," she confirmed, flexing her toes. "I'm fine. I just need a few seconds."

He nodded slowly, and true to her word, Mikaela started to stand up a couple seconds later. Kageyama tried to help her to her feet but it turns out she didn't need the help- the black-haired girl stumbled to her feet awkwardly. "Sorry," she apologized quickly, rubbing the back of her head.

"Don't apologize," Kageyama insisted, shaking his head. "Not your fault."

Mikaela was about to reply when her cousin's phone started to ring. Confused, Kageyama clicked a button on his phone and held it up to his ear. _"Kageyama!"_ someone yelled over the phone, almost causing Kageyama to pull the phone away from his ear. _"Where are you right now?!"_

"Ukai-san?" Kageyama said in confusion.

Mikaela frowned. What was the emergency?

There was a pause as Kageyama listened carefully before replying, "Well, I'm with Kaisha- I mean, Mikaela, right now and we're on the route to school." A brief pause. "Yeah, we thought they'd be done work on the gymnasium."

Mikaela was greeted with a terrifying sight as Coach Ukai came tearing up the street, arms swinging like a madman, clutching his phone in one hand. He zoomed to a stop right in front of Kageyama and grabbed his shoulders, dropping his phone. "Kageyama!" he shouted eagerly. "Don't go any further, leave it! The best toss!"

The pure confusion on Kageyama's face resembled what the black-haired girl was feeling right now. As Ukai was in mid sentence, Mikaela lashed her hand out, catching his phone by its edge before it could hit the concrete. It was awfully close, though (and her leg was yelling at her) but she pulled it into her hand and offered it to the coach.

"You dropped this," she said bluntly.

Ukai's face flipped from crazed excitement to blank curiosity. He accepted his phone carefully and slipped it into his pocket.

"You, come with me," Ukai insisted, grabbing Kageyama's wrist and tugging him away. Mikaela was about to blindly follow when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

 _ **Iwaizumi Hajime (15:12):**_ _Spiking practice?_

Her face immediately lit up in a grin. "Coach, do you need me right now?" she quipped quickly, starting to type out a reply.

Ukai shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt, but it's nothing to sweat over."

"Great! Great, thank you." Mikaela bowed quickly and grinned at Kageyama. "I'll be back eventually."

"What?" her cousin said stupidly, staring at her blankly. "Where are you going?"

"Spiking practice!" she said with a silly grin on her face, waving her phone in front of her face as she started walking backwards. "It's not far, I'll be fine! Bye, Tobio!"

So she turned and nearly ran back in the direction she had come, almost tripping over her feet and ignoring the dull throbbing in her leg. Mikaela heard her cousin sigh behind her but her fingers were too busy typing her response.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (15:14):** Be there in 15!_

* * *

"Kageyama," Coach Ukai said thoughtfully as he was dragging the setter away, "is Mikaela injured?"

The black-haired boy almost stumbled, but he regained his footing and stammered, "why?"

"She said she used to play volleyball, right?" Kageyama nodded. "I've noticed that she moves with a bit of a limp. It's not overly noticeable so I'm not sure if anyone else has picked it up. Besides, it would explain why she doesn't play volleyball anymore. However," he continued, "it wouldn't explain why she transferred schools so suddenly."

Kageyama swallowed hard. Ukai was more observant than he'd thought, and it almost scared him.

"Is she injured?" he repeated. "I'm not asking how, because it's obvious that's private."

"Yes," he answered, biting his tongue. "She's injured."

"Badly?" Ukai pressed.

He hesitated before answering, "yes. It's bad but she's getting better."

"Bad enough that she'll never play volleyball again?" the blond man continued softly, and the hairs on the back of Kageyama's neck rose. Ukai felt Kageyama stiffen and put a hand on his shoulder. "If she's anything like you and loves volleyball as much as you do, there would be no way she'd let an injury, ahem, clip her wings permanently."

Kageyama froze. He didn't know how much he could tell the coach or if Mikaela would be mad or not.

So he settled on, "that's what she was told, yes. But it is possible for her to play again and she's working towards that."

Ukai clapped him on the shoulder and grinned at him. "She sounds like you."

"We're close," Kageyama replied absently, shrugging.

"But if it gets worse," the coach said suddenly, his grip on Kageyama tightening, "I need to know. I need to know what she's capable of and if what I'm asking her to do is hurting her. And she's free to explain the extent of her injury to me whenever she's ready to. Promise?"

Kageyama paused.

He sighed. "I tried going to the school office and hunting for her medical records, because I was curious, but they were listed as private."

The setter almost froze. _That would have to be Mikaela's mom's doing._

"So if it gets worse," Ukai repeated, "you'll tell me."

"I will," he replied, staring at Ukai with protectiveness leaking into his voice and his gaze. "But I ask her first."

The coach didn't reply. He only grabbed Kageyama's wrist and started leading him away again.

* * *

 _Kageyama couldn't believe it when he first heard it._

 _His mother had been one of the first ones called when Mikaela's accident actually happened. Kageyama had immediately insisted that his mother drive him to the hospital (it wasn't somewhere he could get to on a bike) and she had complied. They got to the hospital approximately twenty minutes after they'd got the call._

 _He saw her father in the waiting room. Immediately, the older man pulled Kageyama into a hug, squeezing tightly._

 _"Is she okay?" he asked after Mikaela's father pulled away._

 _He shook his head. "She's in surgery now."_

 _Kageyama's voice got caught in his throat. "How bad?" he managed, his voice near a whisper._

 _His uncle sat down. Kageyama sat down next to him. The older man struggled with his words before he cleared his throat, his eyes cloudy. "Bad."_

 _Kageyama waited._

 _"She won't..." his uncle exhaled slowly, leaning back into the chair. "She won't be able to walk."_

 _He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. Repeatedly. With a knife. "W... What?" he croaked._

 _"The nurse came out to tell me the situation," Mikaela's father said. "Kaisha was brought here about an hour ago. They... they started operation immediately. She's been in there for a long time. But the gist is..."_

 _Kageyama didn't want to hear this._

 _He couldn't hear it._

 _"...she won't walk," he croaked. "They tried to do something with the surgery, but... There's too much damage. So they did something different."_

 _"No," Kageyama insisted quietly, leaning back in his chair as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. "No."_

 _"I know," his uncle said, choking on his words._

 _This was Kageyama's nightmare. No walking meant... no volleyball. She'd never played volleyball again._

 _She'd never play volleyball again._

 _He repeated this to himself over and over until it started to sink him and then he was shaking, leaning into the arms of his uncle as tears threatened to escape his eyes, and he just wanted to see his cousin and hug her and promise her that he'd be there for her no matter what._

* * *

 **Hello again! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Thank you for reading the latest chapter!**

 **Sayori1412:** Oh my goodness you are so sweet! Thank you so so much for your review :) :) I think I'm going to try it... but he's such a difficult character to write, ugh XD

 **Guest:** Yeah, Mikaela doesn't exactly have too much of a filter- especially around Kageyama. Thank you so much for your input! You're too kind. Thank you for your review! :)

 **Thank you so much for reading this far. I hope to hear from you! See you next week!**


	9. The Practice

**Thank you to The Fox of the Shadows, Aelita Anastatia Moonshade, Karin Akihatari, UnforgivingWolf, shifterofthedark, Wondermade, and Hurricane.'97 for your follows / favourites! Thank you :)**

* * *

"Nice one, Mika-chan!" Oikawa trilled as Mikaela hit the floor of the court with a thump, staggering, her palm stinging.

Mikaela grinned and flashed him a thumbs up. "Great setting!"

"Of course!" the brown-haired diva sang as he volleyed another ball to Iwaizumi, who punched it down to the floor.

Oikawa, as luck may have it, had already been intending to have practice with Iwaizumi. It had been the ace's idea to invite her after they had their phone call (on Oikawa's phone) and the gym wasn't far, so she had agreed. Sure, her legs were burning by the time she got there, and she may have had to take a quick break, but she wasn't about to tell them that.

"Let's do serves!" Oikawa cheered next, rolling the cart of volleyballs to the far side of the gym. "You two, go receive."

"Oikawa, that's just mean," Mikaela complained, trudging towards the other side of the court.

"At least hold back a little, Shittykawa," Iwaizumi grumbled, ducking under the net.

They both settled into their positions- Mikaela took the right side of the court and Iwaizumi took the left. "How's the leg?" the dark-haired ace asked, glancing at her.

"Much better than a few weeks ago," she admitted, bending at the knees. "It's getting easier. Still hurts though."

He nodded, turning back to glare at Oikawa, who was hitting the ball against the floor. "That's good. But let me know if it hurts, got it?"

Mikaela felt her heart swell and she grinned. "Yeah, for sure."

Oikawa tossed the ball up and started running, then jumped in the air and hit the ball with a loud thwack. The ball had the power of a missile and was heading towards the sideline- on Iwaizumi's side _(...thank goodness)_. The ace leaped and managed to dig the ball, but the crazy amount of power sent it flying back over the net.

"Shittykawa, you idiot!" Iwaizumi roared, scrambling to his feet, "keep it easy!" Oikawa just cackled from the other side of the court, already grabbing his next volleyball.

"Good dig," Mikaela said honestly. It really was- she wasn't sure if she'd be able to get that in her current state- screw that, she wasn't sure she'd be able to get that if she was in perfect form either. Iwaizumi grunted, still cursing his best friend, and she laughed. Oikawa served again, but it hit the top of the net and flipped over. "Got it," she called out, diving forwards with her arms outstretched. The ball smacked the fronts of her forearms (she barely got there in time) and shot straight up. She hit the ground and started scrambling to her feet.

"Want to spike it?" Iwaizumi called, already moving in position.

"Sure!" she managed, stumbling out of the way as her senpai pushed the ball off his fingertips. Sure, he wasn't a setter, but the set wasn't half bad. Mikaela took a run at it (well, as much as she could) and leaped, hitting it with her left hand to the ground on the other side of the court.

"Yes!" she and Iwaizumi cheered in unison.

"Heads up!" Oikawa cackled, serving again.

"Asshole!" Iwaizumi called back as he lunged for the ball, completely out of position.

Mikaela laughed, and practice (if you could call it that) continued kind of like that for a while. Iwaizumi got a turn to serve- and his serves were almost as bad as Oikawa's, even though the setter's serves were on a completely different level- and then after that it was her turn. She started out easy, staying with only simple overhand serves and avoiding jumping (but when she served with her left hand and it bounced oddly off Oikawa's arm, he started cursing her and she was laughing- loudly). After she realized that her legs were doing okay, she decided to give a jump serve a shot.

"Server up!" Oikawa called, grinning.

Mikaela grinned right back, jumped, and smacked the ball with all her might. Thankfully, it didn't hit the net and continued over. But she almost fell afterwards- her thighs had started to cramp up.

Oikawa moved to receive it before calling, "out!" and retracting his arms, but as luck would have it, her serve hit the back line. "Ugh, no fair, Mika-chan!"

"Says you!" she shot back, inwardly cheering from her beautiful serve.

"C'mon, dumbass, that was totally in," Iwaizumi complained, punching Oikawa in the shoulder. "You totally could've gotten that, you just got lazy."

"Did not!" Oikawa retorted, sticking out his tongue. "That hurt, Iwa-chan!"

Mikaela would've laughed but her words got caught in her throat. This wasn't just a typical cramping- those, she just took a breather for a few seconds, stretched, and was good to go after a few minutes. No, this time her legs felt like they were _burning_. Like a fire was racing up and down her veins.

She grabbed another volleyball from the cart and turned towards Oikawa and Iwaizumi, who were still bickering. She tossed the ball up.

Mikaela tried to take a step and then collapsed.

She'd only felt this type of pain once- when she missed the time she was supposed to take her pills. Crap, how late was it?

The volleyball hit the floor with a thump, forgotten. The dark-haired girl heard distant shouting, but the ringing in her ears cancelled it out. She slumped over, practically falling onto her back. This was worse than last time- the burning pain raced up and down both of her legs like wildfire.

"Mikaela!" Iwaizumi shouted urgently, and through her blurry vision she saw him crouch next to her. Oikawa, despite his typical carefree demeanor, was actually looking very serious. "Is it your leg?" the ace asked, easing an arm under her back and bringing her up to a seated position, which helped a bit.

She nodded. "Bag," she managed, cringing as another wave of cramps seized up in her thighs.

Oikawa took off to the side of the gym where they had left their stuff and returned ten seconds later with her blue and black backpack, bending down. "What do you need?" the brunet demanded.

"Front," Mikaela croaked, wincing, trying to shift to a more comfortable position. Oikawa didn't understand at first but Iwaizumi did, and the ace reached for her bag and unzipped the front pouch, pulling out two clear cylinder containers with different colour pills inside. He held them both out to her and she waved vaguely at the blue one.

Iwaizumi unscrewed the container as Oikawa took his turn to support her and keep her upright. "How many?" he asked, and she held up two fingers. Iwaizumi carefully emptied two tiny blue pills into her shaky hand, and Oikawa fished her water bottle out and handed it to her. Hands trembling, she took a sip of water, then tipped her head back and swallowed one and then the other, the procedure done by reflex.

"Three minutes," she rasped, leaning back heavily against Oikawa.

So they sat in silence and waited.

These pills were honestly incredible- they acted very quickly and were easy to swallow. Within a minute, she started breathing a little easier. Another minute, and she already felt the pain in her legs subside slightly.

Three minutes, and her leg cramps were becoming more manageable. "It's okay now," the black-haired girl mumbled, sitting up carefully. "What time is it?"

Oikawa fished around her bag for her phone and pulled it out. "5:43," he replied, handing her the phone. Mikaela cursed under her breath- she should've been keeping a better watch of the time. But that was weird...

"Does this happen often?" Iwaizumi asked, making sure the pill bottle was closed before he tucked it back in her bag.

She shook her head. "It's only... Only happened once. I take the... I take the pills every day. Yellow in the morning, blue in the evening." Both boys listened in silence as she continued. "I have to take them fairly regularly. Around a set time. Normally around 7 o'clock every morning and 6 o'clock in the evening. Normally a bit earlier. If I... If I miss my time or forget, my legs just seize up and fail on me."

Oikawa frowned. "But it's only a bit after 5:40."

Mikaela bit her lip and nodded. "I thought it was weird too, but I think it might be connected to my heart rate, or... or my activity level, or _something_. I've been moving... moving around a lot today, so maybe it triggered my reaction a bit sooner."

"This is crazy," Iwaizumi said, shaking his head. "You've had to take these for how long now?"

"Maybe two months, almost two and a half," she replied with a sigh.

Oikawa was uncharacteristically silent. "So you really can't play volleyball?" he said quietly.

"I can," Mikaela snapped without hesitation, glaring at her shoes. "And I will. I'm just not strong enough yet. I can't jump as high as I used to, I can't run as fast, my stamina's much lower, and then there's the obvious muscle-cramping handicap." She was proud of herself- her voice never once broke or faltered.

"So it's all physical," Iwaizumi said, raising an eyebrow.

She paused, then sighed. "My mom doesn't want me to play."

Oikawa hissed, his fingers clenching into a fist. "We met your mother at the hospital. What a-"

"Does she approve of you being a manager?" Iwaizumi cut in, glaring at his best friend.

"Nope," Mikaela said, laughing. "Not at all, which makes it more fun. Alright, I think I'm good." Leaning on Iwaizumi's arm, she hoisted herself up and balanced herself. "Thanks, guys. I'm really sorry."

"Don't apologize," the ace said, patting her on the back. "It's not your fault."

She flinched. "But it technically was-"

"No." Oikawa punched her lightly in the shoulder. "Stop being so hard on yourself, Mika-chan. You'll be fine."

"Yeah," Iwaizumi echoed, "You're already ten times tougher than Shittykawa over here."

"Mean, Iwa-chan!"

"But it's true, and you know it."

"Oi!"

* * *

With much reluctance, the crazy duo let her walk back on her own- only after she'd called Kageyama and ask him to meet her halfway. She said good bye to both of them, thanked them for their help and apologized for the trouble, and then set out.

When he told her his idea for a new set, she took a minute to think about it.

"Well?" Kageyama said after a minute. "Do you think it'll work?"

Mikaela frowned. "It's going to need crazy precision. And it'll be incredibly difficult to do- you need a high level of skill. So, if anyone could do it, it'd be you."

Kageyama grinned and clapped her on the shoulder. "Would you help?"

"Any day," she promised, grinning right back at him.

He never asked about her leg, even though she told him over the phone.

She never said anything.

To be able to pretend like everything was fine and ignore her leg for her was an incredible feat on its own. Mikaela squeezed Kageyama's shoulder in a silent thank you as the trudged back home, no words needed.

They both knew what the other meant.

* * *

 _Mikaela had been dreading coming home- but at the same time, she looked forward to it._

 _She was walking home after the team's practice (she had just said good bye to Hinata and Kageyama) and she had just been given the role as manager. The dark-haired girl was proudly sporting her new jacket that branded her as a member of the Karasuno Volleyball Club._

 _What a great way to start off on her third day of school, hmm?_

 _Mikaela nearly paused before pushing open her door, but she exhaled slowly and walked in, shutting the door quietly behind her._

 _Her mom's head popped out of her office, which was a hallway away. "How was school? Where'd you get the jacket?"_

 _"I joined a club," she said warily, slipping off her shoes. "You know, because we have to join a club or something. It's mandatory."_

 _Kageyama Monomi narrowed her eyes (she had chosen to keep her maiden name after the divorce) and frowned. "As long as it doesn't distract from your school studies. What club? Something tame, I presume?"_

 _Mikaela wanted to laugh. Tame? Her? She turned around, showing off the back of her jacket. "I'm a manager for Tobio's volleyball team. The Karasuno Boys Volleyball Club."_

 _When she turned back around, her mother's face was expressing a few new shades of red and her lips were pinched together. "Volleyball? Still? You'd think after the trouble you've been through, you'd have some more common sense."_

 _The black-haired girl twitched, not missing how her mother referred to volleyball as 'trouble'. "You don't get it, Mom," she said softly, pulling her bag off her shoulders and setting it against the wall. "I'm staying invested in volleyball_ because _of my accident. Once I've healed a bit more, I'll definitely join the team. Maybe next year, hopefully." Could she be the manager of the boys' team and a member of the girl's team? Would that work?_

 _"Kaisha," Monomi said firmly, putting her hands on her hips. "Volleyball is out of the question. It ruined your life, and I won't allow you to do that to yourself again."_

 _She rolled her eyes. "Aren't you being dramatic? It didn't 'ruin my life'."_

 _"You transferred schools-"_

 _"Upon_ your _request-"_

 _"And were out of school for a month. Do you know what that does to your grades?"_

 _"Sure, they're not as high as they used to be," Mikaela admitted, "but I needed that time. Besides, Kags brought me school work-"_

 _"Your grades are slipping, you're not physically healthy, and obviously your mentality is not up to scratch," Monomi listed off, her frown deepening._

 _Her jaw slipped. "My mentality?! Are you serious?!"_

 _Her mother shrugged, "you're still dead set on playing volleyball even after what it did to you-"_

 _"It didn't do anything!" she screamed, finally down holding her temper. Monomi snapped her jaw shut, glaring at her daughter. "My accident wasn't caused by volleyball, and you know it. It was an accident, it wasn't done on purpose. At all."_

 _"Your world does_ not _revolve around volleyball," her mother snarled, "and you know damn well that if you weren't so invested in volleyball and you hadn't tried to get extra practice, none of this would've happened."_

 _"I found something," Mikaela snapped, waving her hands around in sharp gestures, "that I love and I want to throw all my passion into. Why can't you just support me for once?!"_

 _"I am. I'm supporting your future which will not come through volleyball. I've picked out a good law school and back up schools, but if you don't follow the plan-"_

 _The black-haired girl was one hundred percent done. "To hell with that!" she cried, throwing her hands in the air. "I'm not following your stupid plan. It's yours! I'm doing what I want to do, not what you want me to do. Let me live my own damn life!"_

 _And then she shouldered past her mom, the constant stream of protests and insults tuned out, and locked herself in a room, swallowing hard and pushing the tears back as she angrily punched her pillows._

 _Dammit._

* * *

 **Fifty follows already? Goodness I'm nearly in tears, thank you so much for so much support in only eight (now, nine) chapters T-T I'm so grateful to all of you!**

 **Things are finally picking up in the plot. Next chapter's not so much fun for Mikaela but it's important for development. Can't wait! ;)**

 **Have a wonderful weekend, I hope to hear your thoughts! :)**


	10. The Confrontation

**Bless the souls of jungkookies, snowlikestardust, Guest, RandomFandom99, That Sweet Bit, nicolett1405, Mayumi Uchiha, Blackbk, Flying Thunderbird, Warzone8x8, kruegz3, MysticalLights, Tessa Tess Tess, fairytailbunchan, and Tick Tock Follow the Clock for the support! Thank you!**

* * *

Mikaela and Kageyama spent all their free time in the gymnasium. She'd toss a ball to him, and he'd try to set it so that the ball almost pauses midair and drops. He was getting the set down easily- scarily easily- but his problem was accuracy. Getting to exactly where he wanted it was going to take time.

Yes, she loved helping her cousin out.

...but watching him set the ball and forcing herself not to run up and spike it was _so hard._

She tossed him another, and he set it behind him, missing the water bottle that he had placed as a target. "Damn," he mumbled. "Again, please!"

"You don't need to be polite," she said with a roll of her eyes, tossing another ball up.

They had two weeks off- two weeks of a wonderful, blissful summer break- before they would leave for a one week training camp in Tokyo, with the other teams. Mikaela was excited, but she had a bit of a problem.

Getting her mother's permission.

She couldn't just leave home for a week without her mother noticing- it wasn't possible. Her mother expected her to come home every night unless she had a very good and reasonable excuse not to. The two day training camp trip, she'd flat out lied to her mother about- she said she was going out with Kageyama for the day and that she stayed over at his place for the night. Going away for a week was a bit harder to lie about.

It was about one week into her two week break when she sucked up the courage to ask her mom if she could go. There were seven days until the training camp, and she knew she was going to go, even if she had to break out of the house to do it.

"I haven't asked my mom about the training camp yet," she mentioned to her cousin when they were walking home from practicing late.

"You haven't?" Kageyama asked, cocking his head. "Why not?"

"She'll say no," Mikaela replied, shaking her head. "She doesn't approve of me being a manager to begin with."

The setter frowned. "But she let you go to the other camp."

She laughed. "...Not exactly."

Kageyama frowned, and then his eyes widened with realization. He sighed. "You didn't tell her, did you?"

"Yep."

"What excuse was it this time?"

"I was at your place for the night."

He shrugged. "That's believable. You do it occasionally."

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah. I can't exactly say that I'm hiding at your place for a week, though."

"Well..." Kageyama sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "No, I guess you can't. So, you're going to ask her? What if she says no?"

"Then you help break me out of the house," she said without hesitation, crossing her arms, "and we go anyways."

Kageyama was about to respond when there was a beep. Mikaela dug into her track pants pocket and pulled out her phone, which was beeping noisily as an alarm. "Crap," she muttered, shaking her head. "Pill time." She tugged her backpack off her shoulder, retrieved the water bottle from the main pouch, then started hunting through the front pocket. She pulled out the blue case and tipped two pills into her hand. "Hold," she instructed, handing the case and her phone to Kageyama.

Her cousin took the case and screwed the lid on, balancing the blue case on top of the phone. Mikaela took a sip from her water bottle, tipped her head back, dumped the pills into her mouth, and swallowed- so fast that Kageyama was surprised that she didn't gag. "Thanks," she said, taking the case back from Kageyama and putting it back in her bag. "All good."

"Did it hurt at all?" he asked, frowning.

They started to walk again. "Nah," she said with a shake of her head. "Sure, my leg aches if I'm standing all day or if I work out, but today was okay. I'm all good."

"So the only time it got really bad was when you were training with Oikawa-senpai and Iwaizumi-senpai?"

Mikaela shrugged. "It's happened before. Sometimes, I'll just miss my alarm, and then soon enough, the pain kicks in." She kicked at a stray stone on the road, sending it flying. "This is stupid."

They reached the fork in the road where they split up. "See you tomorrow?" Kageyama asked. "At the gym?"

"Six in the morning," she agreed, and she pulled her cousin in for a quick hug. "See you tomorrow, Kags."

"Good luck with your mom," he offered after a second of thought. He glanced up at the sky. "Get home fast, it looks like it'll rain."

"I'll need it, thanks. Yeah, you too."

Two minutes later, she was at the front door to her house, pausing in front of the door. _I can do this. It's just a training camp. It's just a training camp._ If her mother said no, or contacted the school... She swallowed, trying to avoid thinking of that. She could do this.

Mikaela pushed open the front door, kicking her shoes off at the side. "I'm home," she called, glancing down the hallway. She swung her backpack off her shoulders and leaned it against the wall.

Predictably, her mother was in her office, like usual. Kageyama Monomi popped her head out the door and raised an eyebrow at her. "You're late."

"No I'm not," she protested, glancing at her phone. 6:04. Yeah, she was late. "Okay, four minutes late. That's not bad."

"How was the study group?"

The black-haired girl nearly blanked- until she remembered that the excuse she had given her mother for being out all day was a study group thing with Yachi, Hinata, and Kageyama. "O- Oh. It was good, yeah. Hinata's kanji is really coming along well," she lied, mentally reminding herself to help Hinata with his kanji later.

"And your own studies?" she pushed, frowning.

"Fine," she snapped, biting her tongue before she let any of the words that she _actually_ wanted to say slipped out. "Actually, Mom, there's something I wanted to ask you about."

"What is it?" Monomi asked, stepping out into the hallway and crossing her arms. The glare on her face said that she wasn't going to like what Mikaela was asking, whether it was about moving to a new country, skipping a grade, or getting a scholarship from the president.

Mikaela steeled herself. "There's a volleyball training camp next week-"

"No. Absolutely not."

She groaned. "Come _on,_ Mom! I'd be going as the manager! All I'd do is help them make plays, give out water bottles, stuff like that."

"I don't care," her mother snapped back. "I know you. You'd find a way to get yourself involved."

"It's a _boys_ training camp, Mom. There's not much I can involve myself with!"

"You will not be going. You're lucky that I'm allowing you to be a manager-"

"Lucky?" Mikaela interrupted. "You didn't _allow_ me to be a manager, I _wanted_ to be a manager. And it's on Tobio's team. There's nothing wrong with that! It's not like I tried to join the girls' team!"

"I told you," Monomi said angrily, "that you should have nothing to do with the sport."

"Yet here I am," Mikaela retorted, putting her hands on her hips. "Managing a volleyball team and enjoying it. Why can't you just let me do this?"

Monomi glared daggers at her daughter, her glare so fierce that Mikaela nearly flinched and backed down. "I'm your mother. I have gone before you and I know what is best for you. It is your duty, as my daughter, to-"

"Bullshit," she interrupted, eyes flashing.

"Language!"

Mikaela laughed dryly, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Mom, I _hate_ law."

"You'll learn to love it," she said stiffly, closing some of the distance between them. "This is just your stubbornness. You're being a rebellious teenager, and you're only insisting you don't like it because it's what I'm telling you to do."

"Are you even _listening_ to yourself?" the dark-haired girl cried out, clenching her hands into fists. "I'm sorry that I don't like what you like!"

Her mother's eyes narrowed angrily. "Don't you _dare_ talk back to me, young lady-"

"Dare?" Mikaela hissed with the ferocity of a lion. "Might I remind you what happens in all the books and movies when this exact situation happens? The child goes on their own path, and the parent learns to support them. Give it a shot, will you? I-"

"You have no say in the matter!"

"Just because you're mad that Tokyo University didn't accept you doesn't mean I have to do what you couldn't!" she snapped.

 _Slap._

She should've seen it coming. She _should_ have.

But she wasn't prepared.

Mikaela was nowhere near prepared for the slap that followed her words. Kageyama Monomi's hand swiped out like a viper and smacked her across the cheek. It wasn't hard enough to make her stumble, but the sheer surprise was enough to shock Mikaela speechless. Her jaw slipped open and she brought her hand up to her cheek in shock.

What was worse, was that her mother didn't even look regretful. Just... Satisfied.

It made her sick.

"Kaisha," her mother said quietly, venom dripping from her words, "go to your room."

Mikaela's jaw opened, and then closed. She didn't even know what to say.

"Now."

She snapped her jaw shut like a steel trap. "No."

Her mother's eyebrows shot to the top of her forehead. "Kaisha-"

But Mikaela had already turned around. She grabbed her bag and jammed her feet into her shoes, zipping up her jacket. "Kaisha!" her mother demanded, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. "You-"

"Don't touch me," Mikaela growled, her voice dangerously low. She tugged her wrist hard, and to her surprise, her mother let go.

She opened the door and marched out, slamming it behind her with enough force that if there was a window on their door, it would shatter.

And she ran.

Mikaela took off, heart pounding, running at first and then slowing to a jog. Her thighs ached and her calf was killing her, but it was nothing compared to the burning sensation in her heart. She... She had never even considered the possibility that her mother would hit her. Mikaela wasn't sure if she was mad, or upset, or confused, or... all of the above?

The pain in her legs became too much to bear. She stopped, her chest heaving, and glanced at the nearest thing she could use as stability in sight- a fence post near the park. The black-haired girl coughed and leaned against the post, struggling to catch her breath. She pulled her backpack off her shoulder and dug through the main pouch until her shaking hands finally settled on her water bottle. She gulped down the last of the water, which was almost nothing, and almost choked.

"Crap," she mumbled, her voice cracking. "Oh crap."

What now?

Mikaela clenched onto her phone like a lifeline and hunted through her contacts until she found a number that she didn't call as often as she should've. She pressed the phone to her ear and listened in agony as the ring went on three times, then four...

 _"Hey, this is Mikaela Rousagi, sorry I can't take your call right now-"_

The black-haired girl clicked on the button to end the call. "Of course he's busy," she grumbled, dozens of different emotions soaring through her head. Tiny water droplets fell onto the screen. Mikaela blinked rapidly. Was she crying?

She rubbed her eyes. No, not yet. She tilted her head up to the sky and felt tiny droplets hit her face. "Fuck," she said aloud with a laugh. Just her luck. She turned back to her phone screen, sheltering it under her jacket, and scrolled through for another contact.

Thankfully, he picked up on the second ring. _"Hey, Kaisha."_

"Tobio," she said with relief. "Oh, thank god you picked up."

 _"What's up? Are you okay?"_

Mikaela wanted to cry because no, she was most certainly not okay: her mother had hit her, she'd run away, her father hadn't picked up his phone, and now she was standing out in the rain. "No," she admitted, trying to keep her voice steady. She leaned back against the post. "I'm not."

 _"Is it your mom?"_

There were so many things she needed to say- but none of them were easy. "Yes," she whispered. "Kags, I... I ran. I'm..." she glanced around, and then turned back to the phone. "I'm at the park."

 _"Wait, what? In the rain?"_

Mikaela bit her lip and felt the tears spark in her eyes. "I just..." her voice cracked. "Kags, I don't know what to do." Despite the rain (which was now significantly heavier than before), she could feel the tears dripping down her cheeks.

His voice was firm and left no room for discussion. _"Don't move, I'll be there as soon as I can. Hang tight, Kai. You'll be okay."_

"Th- Thank you," she mumbled, wiping furiously at her eyes. "I'm sorry."

But he had already hung up. Mikaela pushed her phone into her pocket, slumped against the fence post, and crouched down into a ball, hugging her knees to her chest. Dammit, she shouldn't be crying. It wasn't worth crying over. But that didn't change the fact that tears were forcing their way out of her eyes and dripping down her cheeks.

The rain picked up, and Mikaela was quickly drenched. Her ponytail fell over her shoulder, dripping water into her lap. _He'll be here soon,_ she thought to herself, cradling her knees closer into her chest. _I'll be okay._

How was she supposed to go home after this?

"The hell are you doing out here?"

Mikaela jerked her head up and nearly scowled- there, in all his six-foot-two glory, stood Tsukishima Kei, with his usual expression of disdain on his face. He was wearing his usual jacket and was holding an umbrella over his head, with his other hand jammed into his jacket pocket. His trusty headphones were tucked around his neck, not in use. _Not now. No, not now._ "Beat it, Tsukishima-san," she said in a low voice, turning her face away so he couldn't see how red her eyes were.

"Drop the 'san', it's weird to hear you be respectful," he said, pushing up his glasses. "You're soaked."

"So you noticed," she grumbled, ignoring the insult that would normally have convinced her to fight back. "Go away."

He stood there in silence for a moment, the only sound being the rain as it hit the pavement, the grass, and Tsukishima's umbrella. "You should get somewhere dry," he remarked, and when Mikaela looked up, she could see he looked uncomfortable. He probably wasn't used to being... somewhat nice.

"That's the nicest thing I've ever heard you say," she grumbled, glaring at the ground again. "Look, Kageyama will be here soon. You can leave."

"I mean, I know you're not overly smart, seeing as how you're sitting out here in the rain," Tsukishima added, taking a step towards her. "But I know you're smarter than your kingly cousin. So I'm curious. Why're you out here, Mikaela-san?"

No matter the situation, she couldn't resist the opportunity. "Drop the 'san'. It's weird to hear you be respectful," she mocked, the corner of her mouth twisting slightly.

He glared at her. "Apparently, you and your cousin have the same high-n-mighty attitude."

Mikaela might've retorted, but she just wasn't up for it. "Tsukishima, just leave. I'll be fine."

The blond boy paused. Mikaela could almost see his brain whirring for what options he had. The rain pounded on her forehead as she tipped her head up. "Seriously. Kageyama's on his way."

"Were you crying?" he said abruptly.

Mikaela's eyes widened and she ducked her head. "What? No."

"You were."

"I was not."

"I'm not an idiot. Your eyes are red."

"Tsukishima," she said roughly, internally praying that her voice wouldn't break or anything stupid like that, "just... go away, okay?"

He didn't respond. Mikaela didn't have to look up at him to know that he was probably confused. She doubted that the arrogant asshole had a conscience, and honestly, she just wanted him to leave. He shouldn't see her like this- she never wanted _anyone_ to see her like this.

She cleared her throat. "And, uh..." she lowered her voice, even though there was no one around to hear her words except for him, "please don't mention this to anyone on the team." She swallowed. "Please."

Tsukishima didn't say anything, and Mikaela was beginning to think that he wasn't even there. But when she looked up, and he was still there- just standing in the rain, umbrella in one hand. But for the first time since she'd met him, Mikaela didn't see the usual expression of cockiness and loathing that he typically wore.

 _"Please,"_ she pushed, one last time. She tried to say something else but her voice betrayed her and she buried her head in her knees. Dammit, she was going to cry again.

And then the rain stopped.

No. Not quite. She could still hear it pounding against the ground- but she couldn't feel it.

Curious, Mikaela looked up. Tsukishima was standing a foot away from her, with his umbrella held out to shield her from the rain. She was so surprised that she couldn't think of anything to say. The blond volleyball player huffed and looked away, quite literally looking everywhere except at her. "And here I thought you were the smarter of the pair," he grumbled, evidently speaking of her and Kageyama.

But for once, she couldn't find any malice behind his words. He didn't mean it.

Tsukishima finally glanced down at her, and he frowned at her. "Staring's rude," he pointed out, his cheeks slightly darker than usual. He looked away. "The King will be here soon, right?"

She glanced back down at the ground. "Sorry. Yeah."

And then the seconds ticked by. Tsukishima didn't do anything else- he just stood next to her, holding the umbrella over both of them and glancing off into the distance. Mikaela was shivering, but oddly enough, she couldn't feel it. Maybe she had gone numb from cold. The rain pounded down around them relentlessly, and Mikaela couldn't help but glance at Tsukishima, who seemed as bored as always.

Then, she heard the telltale sound of footsteps on wet pavement. She craned her neck up at the same time that Tsukishima looked over. Kageyama was jogging towards her, a large umbrella clutched in his hand, an extra jacket tucked in the crook of his arm. "Tobio," Mikaela whispered, and her frozen arms tried to push off the ground and get her to her feet. Tsukishima watched her clamber to her feet as Kageyama closed the distance between them.

He didn't care that she was soaked; the setter wrapped his free arm around Mikaela and squeezed tight. "Kaisha, you idiot," he mumbled, and Mikaela squeezed her arms around him as tight as she could, burying her face into his shoulder.

"Thank you," she croaked. "Thank you, thank you."

Kageyama took a step back and handed her the jacket he was carrying. "Here, put this on." He looked up to Tsukishima. "What'd you want?"

Tsukishima's typical smirk returned to his face. "I was coming home from Yamaguchi's and I passed her, curled up in a ball in the rain. And unfortunately, I have a conscience."

Mikaela wrapped the jacket around her back, not even bothering to put her arms in the sleeves. Kageyama and Tsukishima glared at each other, but Mikaela could read her cousin's look- he was sending the blond blocker a silent thank you.

"You could at least look a little more grateful," Tsukishima mused, unimpressed. He glanced at both of them one more time, until he turned around and started heading down the road that Mikaela had come from.

"Thank you," the manager blurted out, her face flushed.

He looked over his shoulder at her and scoffed. "Whatever."

She smiled slightly, and he turned around again. Kageyama sighed before turning to his cousin. "Let's get you home. Then, you can tell me what happened." Mikaela nodded, and the pair started walking side by side to Kageyama's house. "Did he bother you?" he asked.

Mikaela half-smiled. "Yeah. Like always."

Kageyama rolled his eyes. "Ah."

And then they walked home in silence, shoulder to shoulder- no other sounds except the rain pounding on the ground around them.

* * *

 _She walked in on one of her parents' worst fights yet._

 _Mikaela had been hanging out with Kageyama after school, for their usual volleyball practice. She made sure not to get home late- whenever she got home late, it just gave her parents another reason to argue. Today, she was extra early, so hopefully her parents wouldn't bicker with each other again._

 _She pushed open the door and slipped her shoes off, then set her bag down quietly. "Dad?" she called softly. "Mom?"_

 _Noises were coming from the basement... Yelling?_

 _Mikaela frowned and quietly stepped over to the stairs to the basement, peeking around the corner. Down the stairs, in the open basement room, she saw her father and her mother. Her mother's face was pinched and she had her arms crossed, and her father was red in the face and his chest was heaving, like he'd been yelling._

 _"...so that's it," her father was saying, glaring at his wife. "We're done."_

 _"We were done the moment you lost your job," her mother shot back._

 _"I'm_ trying _," Mikaela Rousagi pleaded. "You know it wasn't my fault. I'm trying, I really am. I have a part-time job, it won't be long before I get a full time job. And losing the job wasn't even my fault-"_

 _"It doesn't change the fact that you still lost your job," Mikaela Monomi retorted fiercely. "This is for the best."_

 _"A divorce?" her father demanded, and Mikaela's blood went cold. "You think this is best for us? For our daughter?"  
_

 _A divorce?_

 _Like... Splitting up?_

 _"I have my daughter's best interests at heart," her mother insisted. "I can give her the life she needs."_

 _"And what about the life she wants?" he shot back. "They're not the same."_

 _"They will be!"_

 _"You can't take her from me," her father breathed, his hands clenching into fists. "You can't dare."_

 _Mikaela was still trying to wrap her head around what was happening. Divorce? Did she hear that right? She bit her lip, praying to any god that she knew or had ever read about that they were talking about a different kind of divorce, or she misheard them, or-_

 _Her mother laughed mirthlessly. "I know that she's the only reason you've stuck around. As soon as you get a good job, you'll take off. That's the only reason you haven't yet."  
_

 _"I'll take her with me."_

 _"She won't want to go."_

 _"You don't care about her."_

 _"I care more than you do."_

 _"I don't want you to fight," she cut in._

 _Both her parents finally,_ finally _looked up the stairs to see her. She was frozen like a statue, feet rooted to the ground. "It's my fault," she said finally, tears falling down her face. She made no move to clear them from her eyes. "I'm the reason you two are fighting. I'm the reason you aren't happy."_

 _"Kaisha, no-"_

 _She didn't even know if it was her mother or her father that had tried to stop her. She just took off, down the hallway and up the stairs to her room, locking the door behind her as soon as she could. And then she started sobbing, because her parents were divorcing and it was all her fault and they wouldn't love her anymore-_

 _Mikaela cried until she couldn't cry anymore. And then, she fell asleep out of exhaustion._

* * *

 **jungkookies:** Oh my goodness I'm going to cry, you're so sweet aaaaah! Thank you so much I can't even begin to tell you how much that means to me! I very much hope you enjoyed (well, not really 'enjoyed', but you know what I mean) this chapter! Thank you so so much! And can I mention how much I adore your username? Thank you again :) :)

 **snowlikestardust:** Thank you! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Guest:** Interesting, I never really considered that XD Thank you for your review!

 **Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was quite the roller coaster. Next week's update will be late because I'm at a camp all weekend, but hopefully I'll be able to get the chapter up late Monday night.**

 **Thank you!**


	11. The Threat

**Thank you endlessly to Sayori1412, snowlikestardust, jungkookies, BigMindsThinkAlike, LilPurrfection, KawaiiDalek888, snowstar1016, MysticFanfictions, WantToBeADog, biancaandreea, , AstreaCinclear, and Forbiddentofly for your support! It means so so much to me.**

* * *

Mikaela stayed the night at Kageyama's house, sleeping on the floor of his room. His parents were out- they typically were, for business trips and such- so she wasn't intruding nor did she have any problems sneaking into his house.

He didn't ask her anything, which she appreciated. Her cousin just took her inside, handed her a towel and steered her to the bathroom so she could shower, and threw her clothes in the dryer. Mikaela scrubbed at her face like no tomorrow when she showered, trying to erase any feeling of her mother's hand on her face. Her wrist received the same treatment- endless barrages of soap and such until her skin was scrubbed raw.

When she'd finished, she went to the small guest room in Kageyama's house and found her track pants and one of Kageyama's sweaters sitting on the bed. She'd kept her underwear, choosing to hang those up to dry in the bathroom while she showered. She smiled slightly, slipping the track pants on and tossing Kageyama's sweater over her head. _He's the best._

Mikaela left her hair down so it would dry and left the guest room, navigating her cousin's house until she found his room. The door was swung open and she peered inside. To her surprise, Kageyama was laying down a mat, blanket, and a pillow on the floor.

He looked up. "Oh. I just didn't know if you'd, uh, rather sleep here or..." he trailed off.

"Here would be nice," she said softly, walking into his room. "Thank you."

Kageyama only nodded and moved back to sit on his own bed. Mikaela moved to the mat on the floor and sat down, cross-legged. "So, uh," Kageyama said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head, "do you... want to talk about it?"

"Nothing to talk about," she immediately quipped but her words were quickly followed by a sigh. "Yeah, that's a lie."

He smirked. "Yeah."

They both sat in silence for a few seconds. Mikaela had a miniature debate in her head as she tried to decide what she could tell Kageyama. Then again... he was her best friend. If she couldn't talk to him, then who could she talk to? "Um," she mumbled, her hand involuntarily rising to touch her cheek. "I uh, tried bringing up the training camp to my mom."

The setter had never really been one for private conversations, but he did his best: Kageyama sat quietly and listened to his cousin. "She didn't take it well," Mikaela continued, shaking her head. "She, uh, yelled. A lot. And I did too."

"Is that why you ran?" he asked quietly.

She didn't reply.

"You're not a runner," he said, watching her face for any signs of emotion. "You've never been a runner. Only a fighter. What did she say to make you run?"

Mikaela didn't know what to say. "It's not what she said," she mumbled when she got her voice back. "It's more... more like what she _did._ "

Sure, Kageyama was pretty oblivious to most things. Mikaela was someone he understood; she was very similar to himself. Temperamental, prideful, stubborn, competitive. He'd learned to read her pretty well over their years spent together in middle school, and even now, he knew there was something she wasn't saying.

That, and she kept touching her cheek...

 _Not what she said, but what she did._

Kageyama's eyes widened in realization and fury. "Did she _hit_ you?!"

She visibly flinched, and Kageyama went silent in shock. She suddenly looked so... _small._ This was not a Mikaela he was used to seeing. "You have no tact, honestly," she huffed quietly, tucking her knees up to her chest. She looked away. "...yeah. So I took off."

He didn't really know what to say, so instead he slid off his bed and knelt next to his cousin, wrapping his arms around her. She leaned into him, not crying, but shivering. Kageyama tightened his grip, no words of comfort coming to mind.

"Sorry," she murmured.

Kageyama huffed. "Shut up, moron. Nothing to be sorry for."

He didn't have to look at her to know she was smiling- probably not a huge smile, but maybe a half smile. "Can we sleep?" she mumbled into his chest.

He nodded against her shoulder. "You going to be okay?"

"Sure."

Kageyama let go of the manager and moved back towards his own bed, laying down. Mikaela shifted onto her side, pulling the blanket he had given her around her shoulders. "G'night, Kai," he said quietly, his mind still buzzing.

"Good night," she said back, her eyes closing.

Kageyama didn't fall asleep for at least another hour.

* * *

Practice the next day continued as normal. Since it was summer break, the lack of classes should've been an incentive to relax, but nearly the entire team chose to use their time to train. Hell, even Tsukishima showed up every once in a while.

Sure, they had team practices- but the gym was often occupied long before and after the practice was.

The biggest surprise to Mikaela was Hinata. He took off right after practice was over and wasn't around until close to when practice started. Mikaela asked Coach Ukai, but he told her that Hinata was off practicing with someone else, so she let it go. He hadn't spoken to Kageyama at all since their fight, nor did her cousin seem overly inclined to talk to him.

Mikaela spent most of the day working with Kageyama- and when she wasn't, she was helping Shimizu with manager things or Coach Ukai with organizing plays. The team practice was just about finished- Hinata had already taken off, Nishinoya was working with Sugawara on setting, and Azumane was heading to the back of the court with a ball, presumably to work on serving.

Kageyama had already started setting up water bottles to use as target points, and she was about to grab a few volleyballs and go toss to him when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

She jumped, then turned around and realized it was just Coach Ukai. "Oh, Coach," she said, relieved, "What's up?"

"Jumpy, aren't ya?" he mused, and she shrugged sheepishly. "Um, Takeda-sensei got an interesting call today."

"Okay," Mikaela said uncertainly.

He paused, shifting his posture. "It was... from your mother."

Mikaela's blood went cold. She already knew what this was about. "And?" she snapped, her voice sharp.

Ukai raised his eyebrows at the sudden ferocity in her voice. "Well, judging by how frazzled Takeda looked, your mother is a very terrifying woman. And from what he told me, you're to be kicked off the team immediately and you're forbidden from going to the training camp."

Mikaela felt pure loathing build up in her body, and her hands squeezed the volleyball so hard that she wouldn't have been surprised if it popped. "What did he tell her?" she managed, her voice low.

The coach shrugged. "He told her that he'd have to talk to me, and she threatened to have him fired and take the matter up with the principal."

Her heart sank in her chest. "Oh, god," she murmured, shaking her head. "She's serious."

"She could do that?" Ukai said, frowning. "How the hell does she have that sort of authority?"

"She..." Mikaela trailed off, shaking her head. Her mother has gone from zero to one hundred really quickly- and she never made a threat she hadn't followed through on. "She's a lawyer," she said eventually, "one of the best in Japan. She doesn't take many cases, but..." the black-haired girl sighed. "She could definitely dig up something against Takeda-sensei or the school or something and blow it up. Even if his record's clean. I've seen her do it."

Ukai looked like he wanted to curse, but he refrained from doing so. Instead, he pursed his lips. "So she'll follow through on her threats."

"Yes," Mikaela said numbly. Her head buzzed- she should've known her mother would try something like this. Her pride had been wounded- and Kageyama Monomi never lost a battle. Especially not to her own daughter. "Are you... Are you going to kick me off the team?" she asked quietly, already dreading the answer.

"Do you want me to?" he asked.

"No," she mumbled.

"Then no way in hell," Ukai said firmly, making Mikaela's eyes widen in surprise. "It's clear that this isn't for your benefit, and you've got some good eyes and good ideas. If you want to be here, then I'm not making you leave."

Relief flooded her, and happy tears almost sparked in her eyes. She bowed quickly and said, "t- thank you, thank you. But Takeda-sensei..."

"He had some work to do, so he left early," Ukai said with a wave of his hand. "He doesn't want you off the team either."

"I'm so sorry I caused you trouble," Mikaela said with a long, shaky breath. "This is my fault."

Ukai was about to add something when Mikaela saw Kageyama heading towards them out of the corner of her eye. "Kaisha? You good?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mom's threatened Takeda-sensei," the dark-haired girl blurted out. "She wants me off the team."

 _"What?!"_

Ukai huffed, crossing his arms. "Look, the last thing I want is for this to be a problem for your family. Can you get this sorted out or is there anything that I could do? Or Takeda? We want you at that training camp but I don't want him fired."

Mikaela frowned, already knowing what the answer had to be. "I'll talk to her. I can reason with her." Her coach cocked an eyebrow at her. Even Kageyama looked skeptical. "Okay, well, I'll try," she amended.

"I'm not letting you go back home," her cousin said immediately, and when Mikaela heavily glared at him, he added, "alone." She knew exactly what he was referring to, but Ukai didn't. No one else did. No one else could know.

"So you two can try to sort this out?" Ukai clarified, and they glanced at each other and nodded. "Okay. Kageyama, you have my number, you can let me know when everything works out. If it doesn't..." he exhaled slowly. "If you're sure that your mother would go through with this, then Takeda's in trouble."

"I'll try," she said, swallowing. "And if not... I guess you won't see me on that trip."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." The coach clapped her on the shoulder, nearly making her flinch. "Thanks, Mikaela. I don't know what exactly is going on, but I hope you work it out." She murmured her thanks to him and bowed slightly. Ukai rolled his eyes, told them to contact him as soon as they knew more, and walked away to go talk to Sugawara.

"So," Kageyama said, glancing at her. "What now?"

"You're going to practice some setting," she decided, "and I'm going to help. Then, we'll go to my place."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Have to blow off some steam?"

"You know it," the black-haired girl said with a laugh.

So they practiced. She tossed, he set. Mikaela just wanted to do something without thinking of her mom, at least for a little while. And Kageyama was one hundred percent willing to practice volleyball for hours on end, so it worked out for both of them. Granted, she never really did much- but Kageyama was nailing his set more and more often (which was only one in ten sets... come on, it used to be one in twenty) and that made her happy.

She was in a significantly better mood, ten minutes later, when Yamaguchi came to borrow one half of their court for serving. He served on the same side of the court that they were practicing on, some Mikaela watched his jump floater serves soar over her head and hit the court on the other side. Jump floaters were hard- kudos to Yamaguchi for doing so well with them.

Another fifteen minutes or so passed when Yamaguchi stopped serving. "I'm walking home with Tsukki," he explained breathlessly, tired from his serving. "Good practice today!"

"See you tomorrow," she said with a small wave, trying to smile. The kid was just so fricking _nice_ that she couldn't help but try.

He smiled at her, and then his grin softened. "Mikaela-san, sorry for my bluntness, but... did you walk into something?"

She stiffened, temporarily forgetting to tell him to drop the honorifics. "What?"

"Bruising," Yamaguchi explained with a shrug. "On your cheek."

It felt like an ice cold hand had just grabbed her heart and squeezed. She dug her finger nails into her palm. "Oh, yeah," she said, forcing a casual chuckle of some sort. "Wasn't looking where I was going and walked into a cupboard."

"Klutz," Kageyama said in an effort to back up her lie. He nudged her softly, his eyes betraying his concern. She scowled at him and swatted his hand away. Yamaguchi smiled at them both and walked over to the bench.

Mikaela immediately turned to her cousin. "How bad?" she said quietly, swallowing.

He shook his head, his eyes narrowing. "Not bad," he said eventually.

"I never even thought to check-"

"Walked into a cupboard?" someone said aloud, and Mikaela whipped her head around to glare at Tsukishima, who was walking by with his volleyball stuff packed away in a bag and swung over his back. "Might've lost a few of those precious brain cells."

"Says the one who wouldn't get three feet without his glasses," Mikaela shot back immediately, rolling her eyes. Whatever had happened between them yesterday, Tsukishima had chosen to ignore. Which was fine with her.

He snorted, jamming his hands into his pockets and turning to glare at her. "You'd need a map to get out of your own closet."

"Well, _you'd_ have a GPS to get you to the other side of your house and you'd still get lost."

"At least I'm smart enough to avoid walking into cupboards."

"But not smart enough to double knot your shoe laces," she retorted. Tsukishima glanced down to notice that she was right- his shoe lace was starting to unravel. She smirked at him and he scowled right back, but his pride kept him from bending down to tie his shoe. "Sorry, Tsukishima-san," Mikaela added sarcastically, smirking, "maybe you didn't make it past the 'learning to tie your shoes' bit as a kid."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Drop the 'san', it makes you sound respectful."

She almost lost all the playfulness in her eyes- that was what he said to her last night. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Sugawara pause whatever he was doing and glance at the two of them. Sawamura was on the bench, gulping down water, and Tanaka was standing next to him, his eyes whipped back and forth between the two of them as their banter grew increasingly louder.

 _Fine, then. If this is his way of checking on me, so be it._ "You wouldn't know respect if it hit you in the face," she said with a roll of her eyes. _I can play along._

"You must be two people," the blond mused, watching the confusion flash across her face. "Because there's no way a single person could be that stupid."

(Nishinoya's jaw dropped. Sugawara dropped the volleyball he was holding and starting marching over to break up... whatever this was.)

Mikaela laughed. Maybe, some other time, she'd be hurt by what he was saying, but she could tell he didn't really mean it- he just wanted a rise out of her. She knew girls similar to him at Niiyama, and she knew exactly when they'd switch to hurtful instead of friendly banter. "If you were any dumber," she said with a wave of her hand, "someone would have to water you twice a week."

(Sawamura choked on his water, and Yamaguchi was there like lightning to smack him on the back)

"If there were any intelligent thoughts left in your head," he countered, smirking, "they would die from loneliness."

"You have the charm of a burning orphanage." She heard Kageyama cough behind her, muttering something under his breath, and she watched Tsukishima's eyebrows fly to the top of his head as he smirked at her.

Funny, it almost looked like he was grinning. "Says the one who has as much charm as a dead slug."

She almost laughed again. "You-"

 _"Oh my god, enough!"_

Sugawara planted himself between them with a telltale _you-two-are-driving-me-crazy_ expression on his face. The pout on his face nearly made Mikaela apologize right then and there. "Honestly, you two. What was that?"

She shrugged. "That was fun."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Of course, you-"

Sugawara turned so fast that he looked like he may have teleported and pointed a finger in Tsukishima's face. "Not another word," he warned, and the blond actually leaned backwards. "Go home. Both of you."

"Sorry, Sugawara-san," she apologized, ducking her head.

"Sorry, senpai," Tsukishima muttered.

The grey-haired boy sighed and waved his hands. "You two are crazy," he muttered as he walked away, going to consult the vice captain, shaking his head.

("There's two of them," their captain muttered, shaking his head and rocking back and worth on his heels. "There's _two_ of them.")

Kageyama gave her a sideways look. She shrugged at him. "Ready to go?"

He opened his mouth to respond, and instead just shut it again and nodded. She grinned at him and made her way to the side of the gym, grabbed her bag, and headed towards the door. Kageyama trailed after her, shrugging apologetically to Sugawara, then turned to her. "What the _hell_ was that?"

She rolled her eyes, nearly skipping as she made her way down the stairs. _"That,"_ she emphasized, grinning at her cousin, "was fun."

"But- how?" he asked, jogging to catch up with her. "I've never seen you do that."

Mikaela shrugged. "You know you were my only friend in middle school, right?"

"Yeah, and?"

"That's because I wasn't exactly a saint, Tobio. I was pretty rude. With some of the girls at school, it was tough. If you weren't tough, you were eaten for breakfast. So I learned to be mean."

"But you were nice to the volleyball girls."

She paused. "That was different."

He rolled his eyes. "Sure." Mikaela glared at him playfully and he shoved her shoulder. "So did you mean what you said? To Tsukishima?"

Mikaela didn't even hesitate- she shook her head. "Nah. He didn't mean any of it either, I think." She half-smiled. "He's smart, actually. I think... I think that may have been his way to check if I was okay from yesterday without sacrificing his reputation as an uncaring, sarcastic asshole."

"You think?" Kageyama said slowly, scratching his head.

She shrugged. "Maybe-"

"Don't get your hopes up, 'Your Highness'."

The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Go away, Cactus."

"We have to walk the same way to get home," Tsukishima countered, and she glanced over her shoulder to see him walking with Yamaguchi. The dark-haired boy smiled and waved at her and she smiled back, grateful for his friendliness. "And I don't care about your well being, frankly. You're imagining things. Are you delusional now?"

"Am I?" she mused, glancing back at him and cocking an eyebrow. "Am I really?"

To her surprise, Tsukishima didn't reply. He huffed, rolled his eyes, and then avoided her gaze, a tint of color on his cheeks. "Yes, you are," he eventually scowled.

"Sure then," the manager conceded, surprised. Yamaguchi shrugged at her apologetically and she shrugged back. Mikaela turned around again, glancing at her cousin, who had his usual scowl plastered on his face. She mustered up a smile.

When they hit the fork in the road, Kageyama turned right to walk with her- she'd nearly forgotten that she had to go talk to her mother. To her disgruntlement, Tsukishima turned as well. Yamaguchi waved and took off the other way.

"You following us, bean pole?" Kageyama grunted, glaring at the taller boy.

He snorted. "As if. I live this way, King. Don't you live the other way?"

"He's coming to my place," Mikaela put in, her eyes flitting between Tsukishima and Kageyama.

"Whatever," Tsukishima said, rolling his eyes and pulling his headphones over his ears, fiddling with his phone until he was satisfied with the song. He jammed his phone in his jacket pocket. "Just don't bother me."

She rolled her eyes and kept walking, Kageyama muttering under his breath as they walked. She almost laughed at him, but instead, the ex-volleyball player settled for a smile. The wind was light, but it tossed her long bangs in her face, so she was constantly brushing them behind her ear.

They made it to her house. Mikaela tossed a glance over her shoulder. Tsukishima hadn't even looked up, but he kept walking. "See ya, Cactus," she called.

He glanced up and frowned. "Hopefully not," he grumbled, turning back to the road.

Kageyama shook his head. "I don't know how you can put up with him. Everything he does is just to rile people up. It's so... stupid."

"He can bother me all he wants," she said with a casual shrug of her shoulders.

"But you freaked out at him on the first day."

Mikaela's facial features pinched together, like she had tasted something sour. "He mocked me about volleyball," she said quietly, suddenly more conscious of the ache in her leg. "That's something I won't tolerate."

Kageyama, not a stranger to her feelings, just nodded solemnly. He understood.

After all, he'd felt the same.

"Alright," Mikaela said to herself, rubbing her hands together. "I can do this."

Kageyama nodded, and then, almost as an afterthought, added, "we can do this."

His words alone filled her with confidence, and she grinned. Kageyama had changed: he had gone from trying to do everything on the volleyball court himself to putting some trust in his team mates and allowing them to play their way. Now, it's almost like he was channeling that same mindset into her. She wasn't alone.

"We can do this," she echoed.

So Mikaela inhaled slowly and pushed open the door.

She tried to make the situation as normal as possible. She pushed open the door, swung her bag off her shoulder and settled it against the wall, and slipped her shoes off. Kageyama followed suit. She didn't know whether she should say something or not. But she didn't have to decide, because a familiar figure stepped out from the kitchen and frowned at her. She was dressed in a maroon blouse, black sleek pants, and had her hair pinned up on her head.

 _She must've had a work meeting earlier._ "Hi, Mom," Mikaela said stiffly.

"Kaisha," her mother said in acknowledgement, her tone cold. She raised her eyebrows. "Hello, Tobio."

He just nodded at her. "Hey, Aunt Monomi."

There was an awkward pause, during which Mikaela and her mother glared at each other and Kageyama waited to see which bomb would explode first.

Mikaela spoke first. "I don't appreciate you calling the school to get me off the team and threatening to fire my teacher."

"I don't appreciate you running away, without a word to where you were going, and not returning until now," her mother returned icily. Kageyama wanted to interject- wasn't it _obvious_ why she ran away?- but he knew better than to say anything. He touched his cousin's back gently, remind her silently that they had to be civil if they wanted to strike a deal.

Mikaela was grinding her teeth together, frustrated. Kageyama had never seen her so tense- not even before the volleyball finals in her junior years. "I want to make a deal," she said stiffly, her gaze never wavering as she glared down her mother.

Kageyama Monomi didn't speak, thinking. Eventually, her voice as cold as ice, she said, "I'm listening." Deals were something she understood.

"I'm not leaving the team," she said first. Kageyama knew that probably wasn't the right thing to say because her mother's eyes narrowed. "And I'm going to the training camp." _And now she's adding salt to the wound._ The setter almost laughed- she could be so blunt sometimes.

His aunt seemed less than pleased. "You already know how I feel about that."

"And," Mikaela forged on, undeterred, "if you allow me to continue with this club and all the activities that come with it, I'll stay home."

Kageyama paused, confused. Monomi seemed the same. "How is this supposed to help your argument?" her mother quipped, crossing her arms.

"Because," the black-haired manager said, a glint in her eyes, "I'll leave."

Her mother paused, effectively stumped.

"I will leave," Mikaela said, her voice low, "and I will go live with Dad. I won't come back here."

Kageyama nearly flinched from the sudden anger that flared up in his aunt. "How _dare_ you even consider that!" she hissed, stepping forwards and jabbing a finger at her daughter. "You _know_ what happened between your father and I."

"Yep," Mikaela agreed, "which is why I'll stay. As long as you let me continue being the manager for Tobio's volleyball team."

Her mother had nothing to say. Kageyama was proud of Mikaela- from what he knew, this was probably the first time she'd ever shut her down so effectively.

"I won't even mention any of this to Dad," the ex-volleyball player added.

"...Fine."

Kageyama's hand squeezed Mikaela's arm in a silent message. _Yes!_

"But," her mother continued, "I want you home every night by six, sharp. No excuses. You'll be able to study for a few hours. If you ever want to be out after that time, I need to know, or there will be severe consequences."

Mikaela bit her lip. Her mother's conditions were bothersome, but manageable. "Alright."

"There will be an increase in your grades," she forged on, "or else I can and I will pull you from the team."

"Alright," Mikaela repeated, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Her grades were already good- her mother just expected _more._ Ugh. "Anything else?"

Monomi paused, frowning. The silence was tense until she said, "not that I can think of."

"So I'll come home by six every night unless I have a very good excuse," the black-haired girl clarified. Her mother pursed her lips. "And I'll raise my grades. And in return, I can stay on the team and go to the training camps and you won't threaten to fire my teachers."

"We have a deal," her mother said, satisfied. "When's your training camp?"

"In six days. I'll be gone for a week."

"Acceptable." Her mother nodded to her, then to her cousin. "You'd best be getting home, Tobio," she warned. "Kaisha has some studying to do." With that, she turned and went back into the kitchen.

Mikaela sighed, rolling her eyes. "She always has to have the last word," she said with a shrug. She grinned. "We did it."

"Yeah," Kageyama agreed. He hadn't really done anything at all, and even though her mother's conditions were a bit over the top, Mikaela was still going to be the team's manager. And that was what mattered. "Good job."

"I'm surprised she agreed," the black-haired girl muttered, shaking her head. "I guess... I guess she really does hate Dad that much."

Kageyama felt a pang in his chest as he saw his cousin's face fall. He knew that she preferred her father over her mother, and the divorce hadn't been easy on her- he'd hung out with her multiple times when she was too nervous to go home, in case her parents were still fighting.

"See you tomorrow?" she said with a grin.

"Bright and early," he agreed. "I'll drop by and we can walk over."

"Six in the morning?"

"Six in the morning."

"Awesome," she breathed, sighing blissfully. "This curfew thing won't be easy, but it's better than nothing." Mikaela pulled Kageyama into a hug, and he hugged her back. "Text Coach for me, will you?"

"Okay," Kageyama agreed, putting his shoes back on. Taking his shoes off had been kind of pointless- he'd never made it past the front hall. "But if she..." his voice faltered, and his cousin knew exactly what he was talking about. "If she _does_ anything," he said slowly, "tell me, and I'll get you out of the house. And we'll figure out a way for you to stay on the team."

"Okay," Mikaela said softly. She bit her lip. "Yeah, okay."

He nodded, satisfied, and opened the door to leave. He turned around one last time. "See ya, Kaisha," he said, waving at her before he shut the door.

She smiled back at him, and waved. "See you tomorrow."

This wasn't ideal- but she could work with it.

She'd have to.

It was the only way she'd get anywhere near being able to play volleyball again.

* * *

 _ **Kageyama Tobio (18:02):** Mikaela worked it out with her mother. She can come to training camp._

 _ **Coach Ukai (18:05):** Good._

 _ **Coach Ukai (18:05):** And Takeda doesn't have to worry about getting fired?_

 _ **Kageyama Tobio (18:06):** No. _

_**Coach Ukai (18:06):** Good. See you tomorrow._

* * *

 _"My name's Mikaela Kaisha," she announced proudly, holding her head up high. "Class 1-6. I'm from Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High and I played wing spiker. It's a pleasure to meet you." She bowed, clenching her hands into fists out of nerves._

 _"Double-handed Demon?" one of the older girls asked, and Mikaela looked up. "That's your nickname, right?"_

 _"Yes, ma'am," Mikaela said, trying not to show how nervous she actually felt.  
_

 _One girl crossed her arms and frowned. "So you're the one that was awarded Best Hitter. You're a lefty."_

 _It was a statement, not a question. "Ambidextrous, actually," she clarified, nodding. The other girls nodded, seemingly impressed._

 _The Niiyama Girls' volleyball team were tall and intimidating- all of them were. They seemed... nice, she guessed, but it was mostly cold politeness. There were a lot of girls here; they were going to have to do try outs for the team._

 _"Kinomi Asui," the girl next to her announced, "Class 1-5, from Shiratorizawa Academy Junior High." Mikaela's head snapped up as the girl forged on. "I was awarded Best Server in Junior High and I played wing spiker!"_

 _Mikaela knew her. She remembered her from her finals match. That award was well placed- she had a wicked jump serve that wasn't as extreme in control as Oikawa's, but it had enough power that made receiving it incredibly difficult. This girl had scored quite a few service aces against their team in that finals match._

 _And she was a wing spiker._

 _And from the way this girl was glaring at her, she'd already claimed her as her rival. Mikaela glared right back, unwilling to back down. Why did she have to have a rival already? What had she done?_

 _"I remember watching that game," one of the girls said, tapping a finger to her chin. "You did have quite the serve."_

 _"And I've worked on it since then," Kinomi declared, shooting a look of pure loathing Mikaela's way. "It's even better now."_

 _"We'll have to see it," the tallest girl on the team said, and they moved on to the next person._

 _But Mikaela wasn't paying attention. All her attention was set on this blonde girl who would not stop glaring at her. "Can I help you?" she hissed through her teeth, turning to Kinomi. She tried to pay attention to the next few new girls, but she couldn't concentrate._

 _"I refuse to play with someone like you," she hissed back._

 _"Someone like me?!"_

 _"You're my rival," Kinomi muttered, her glare as sharp as a viper's, "and you've been my rival since that finals match. I refuse to play with you until I can beat you."_

 _Mikaela's mouth opened and closed as she was rendered speechless. She didn't even know what to say. "Well, we're on the same team now," she murmured, her eyes following the captain of the Niiyama team as she started her own introduction._

 _"Not yet we aren't," she replied._

Oh, it's on, _Mikaela thought. She wanted a fight? She'd give her one._

* * *

 **Hello hello! Wow this chapter turned out way longer than I was expected. I told myself, two thousand to three thousand words a chapter. And here we are. But there was no place I could really... break this up, I guess. And I wanted to hurry myself up, anyways- I've got some stuff planned for the training camp.**

 **And surprise!- next chapter's even longer. It's over seven thousand words, yikes.**

 **Sayori1412:** Oh good! I'm so glad you thought he was in character, it's so difficult XD For sure, more Tsukishima and Mikaela moments ;) Thank you for your review! :)

 **snowlikestardust:** THANK YOU! I agree one hundred percent, I love friendship stories. I'm planning to focus primarily on friendships, and maybe if I feel energetic, I'll throw in a ship. But the ship isn't the main priority; my OC is. I'm so glad you liked that scene in the rain! It was a spur of the moment decision that I really liked. I bet you'll like next chapter ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **jungkookies:** My BTS 'phase', as you've put it, is still ongoing, and it has been ongoing for the past year and a half XD And I feel ya there, my homework is getting shoved aside in favour of working on my fanfictions, uh oh. I actually do not have a beta, I edit the chapters myself! I still miss things here and there, but it happens, I guess :P Thank you so much for your review!

 **Over seventy followers- I'm crying, I love you all so much. Thank you so so much.**

 **Have a wonderful day!**


	12. The Incident

**Many thanks to Sayori1412, snowlikestardust, jungkookies, chained2love, Angel of Amaranthine, Ashley5066, WeDeserveASoftEpilogue, moonlight phonex101, H0shizora, Hope10032, LilianaJaneStrife, and chibi-no-baka for your support! :D**

* * *

Mikaela kept her promise to her mother.

She was home every night with plenty of time to spare. She studied. She even ended up doing pointless chores around the house. But she was still allowed out of the house to go practice, and she was still allowed to go to the training camp, and that was what mattered.

They left for the training camp at midnight. Mikaela was bouncing from foot to foot, eager to just get on the bus and get out of the area- this would be the furthest she'd gotten from her mother since the two day training camp. She was one of the first to meet at Karasuno that night- around 11:40- and started loading her luggage into the bus before she needed to speak with Shimizu.

The older manager was incredibly organized, and showed Mikaela the statistics sheets she had prepared. As Mikaela flipped through them, eyeing the neatness and arrangement with awe, more and more of the boys started to show up- first were Sawamura and Sugawara, mere minutes after she'd gotten there, with Azumane in tow. The three other second years beside Tanaka and Nishinoya showed up, but she still didn't know their names. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were next, followed closely by Hinata, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and her cousin. That was everyone.

"Oooh!" Hinata cheered, bouncing on the spot. "Leaving in the middle of the night is so exciting!"

Tanaka laughed, clapping his junior on the back. "Yeah, you two missed out on this the first time." He was alluding to the other training camp, Mikaela realized. Kageyama and Hinata had gotten their own ride down.

"One of the few benefits of being idiots, I guess," Tsukishima scoffed in his usual tone, "little brain activity means you can sleep anywhere."

"You would know," Mikaela remarked as she walked by, the two aforementioned 'idiots' howling their protests.

"I suspect you would, then, too," the blond shot back, raising an eyebrow at her.

Mikaela opened her mouth to fire something back when Sawamura stepped between them. "Nope. Not again. _Not again."_

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and turned away from her, moving towards Yamaguchi. Mikaela apologized to her senpai and weaved through the boys to find Kageyama, who was standing by himself. "Hey, Kaisha," he said, glancing up to look at her.

Mikaela glanced from him to Hinata, who was avoiding eye contact with the setter. "You're _still_ not talking?" she pressed, raising an eyebrow at him.

He scoffed. "Who cares?"

"...Dumbass."

"Hey!"

"Alright everyone, load up!" Takeda called out, and Mikaela sighed and trudged over to the bus, Kageyama scowling behind her.

The bus ride was quiet. Most of the team chose to sleep, wearing eye masks and wrapping unused jackets around themselves. Mikaela felt warm- the summer air was hot. She wished she could wear shorts... but track pants were the safest bet. For sure. She shared a seat with Kageyama, who was scribbling in his volleyball journal for about ten minutes before he decided to doze off. She sighed, knowing that no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't be able to fall asleep.

When they arrived, Mikaela felt more dead than alive. She'd never been able to sleep in vehicles, and the bus ride was no exception. Hinata seemed more lively than ever, and it made her want to grab him and drain some of his energy out of him and for herself.

"The sun's too bright," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Sugawara overheard her and laughed. "Yeah, we're all a bit tired."

She smirked and jerked her chin at their decoy. "All of us except him, of course."

"Yeah," the vice captain agreed with a chuckle, watching Hinata point out various cell towers and demand the Nekoma setter to tell him if maybe _this_ one was the Tokyo Tower. "He does know that we're in Saitama and not Tokyo, right?"

Mikaela grinned despite her weariness. "Doubtful."

"Y'know, this conversation sounds awfully familiar," someone remarked, and Mikaela looked over to see a tall guy with black hair and a shifty grin lean towards Sawamura. He had a Nekoma jacket on- was he their captain? She couldn't quite remember from the last training camp. "What, don't you have cell towers down in Miyagi?"

"We do," she threw in, unable to help herself, "but I doubt that city slickers like yourselves know what a tractor looks like."

She was more sarcastic when she was tired, and now, it really showed. Kageyama punched her in the back of the arm (lightly, of course) and shook his head at her. Sugawara nearly stumbled, coughing to hide his laugh. Sawamura suddenly looked much more awake. His wide eyes spoke volumes, and Mikaela grinned sheepishly and fell back into line behind her cousin.

"Don't go picking fights with the other teams," the captain scolded, but there was a slight smirk on his face that told her that he didn't really mind what she said.

It was too late now, anyways- the Nekoma guy was looking at her. "Ah, you're Karasuno's new manager, right?" he said, grinning like a cat. "Nice to meet ya. I'm Nekoma's captain, Kuroo Tetsurō."

She sized him up. Tall, slouched, had his hands in his pockets. The look on his face was different, though- he was doing the same as her. Sizing her up. "Mikaela Kaisha," she replied evenly. "First year."

Kuroo's gaze fell to Kageyama, who was yawning. "You look like him."

"And you look like a rooster," she said back bluntly.

"Mikaela!" Sugawara hissed.

"I'm sorry!" she hissed back.

"Don't apologize to me," the vice captain retorted, quite literally steering her in the Nekoma captain's direction. "Apologize to him!"

Mikaela found herself facing Kuroo, who looked significantly more amused than offended. "Fine," she snapped tiredly, "I'm sorry you look like a-"

 _"No!"_

She was about to protest when her phone buzzed in her pocket. The manager pulled her phone out to see the alarm going off- 6:50. "Crap," she muttered, glancing at Kageyama. "I'll catch up with you," she assured her captain, pausing to hunt through her bag for her water bottle. Kageyama, bless his soul, hung back, and unzipped the front pocket of her bag for her.

"We can wait for you," the captain said, confused.

"Nope. I'm fine. Just need a second."

"Alright," Sugawara said slowly, frowning. They turned around again and kept walking.

Kuroo glanced over his shoulder at the pair and laughed. "Where'd you find her?"

"We didn't really... _find_ her," the Karasuno captain remarked. They rounded a corner, putting the dark-haired pair out of sight. "She found us. She transferred from Niiyama."

Kuroo hummed in acknowledgement. "How's she related to Kageyama-kun?"

"Cousins," the captains said in unison.

"Ah. Makes sense."

"They're awfully similar, too," Sugawara added. "Both are stubborn, blunt as a brick-" ("I can tell," Kuroo murmured, thinking of the rooster comment) "-and they both seem to love volleyball plenty. She's a bit more..." he trailed off.

"Feisty?" the Nekoma captain supplied.

Sawamura shrugged. "Yeah. She was actually really quiet at first, a lot like Kageyama. Quiet, did her own thing, that sort of stuff. But just this week..." he shuddered.

"She stepped out of her shell this week," the vice captain said faintly. "Tsukishima said something snarky and she snapped something back, and it escalated."

"She was so quiet up until then," Sawamura said wistfully, shaking his head.

Kuroo cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, did they fight?"

"Verbally, yes," Sugawara clarified. "And I wouldn't say it was a _fight_ , exactly..."

"They both seemed to be enjoying it way too much," his best friend finished. "It was so out of nowhere, too. Mikaela's nice, but she just..."

Kuroo interjected. "Zero to one hundred, really quickly," he guessed.

"Exactly," the Karasuno captains chimed.

The trio turned around. Sure enough, the aforementioned manager was trailing behind, walking with Kageyama, speaking with a hushed tone that they couldn't quite overhear. Mikaela saw them staring at her and she raised an eyebrow. The captains turned around again.

The tall Nekoma player chuckled. "She sounds like a handful."

"Not at all, actually," Sugawara said with a laugh. "She's helpful, organized, and she knows the game. It's just her temper. She and Kageyama both. But she held her ground against Tsukishima and she looked like she enjoyed bickering with him."

"She knows the game?" another Nekoma player popped up beside Kuroo- Kai Nobuyaga, the vice captain. "Has she played?"

"She said she played on her junior high team," Sawamura said slowly. "Why she's a manager now and not on the girl's team is a mystery to me. Either way, she's a good manager. Kiyoko seems to like her."

"Well, she's got the build of a volleyball player," Kuroo mused. "She's tall. Have you asked her why she doesn't play?"

The Karasuno captains visibly shuddered, remembering the first day they had met Mikaela, and how when Hinata had pestered her, she'd glared at them like she could kill them all a million different ways with just her bare hands.

"Someone asked," Sawamura said firmly.

"We won't be making that mistake again," Sugawara followed up, shaking his head.

Kuroo and Kai shot a glance at each other, confused, and then glanced back at the manager, who was rummaging through her backpack while her cousin walked beside her, rubbing his eyes. Kuroo rolled his eyes and shrugged.

They made it to Shinzen Private High School, which was a rather large and well-kept school on top of a hill. The team was eager to drop their bags off and get on the court, so that was exactly what they did. Soon enough, they had their practice jerseys on and were ready to play.

The air was warm and humid, and Mikaela had taken the nearest opportunity to shed her Karasuno jacket- now, she was just in her loose track pants, favourite runners, and a loose black t-shirt. She grabbed her notebook, flipping to a blank page as the boys set up on the court to play Fukurodani. Mikaela, once the boys were on the court, walked over to stand next to Shimizu. Fukurodani served, and Nishinoya made a perfect receive. Kageyama immediately moved into position to set, with Hinata tearing up the right side of the court. Mikaela tapped her pencil against her chin. Would he try the new set he's been working on, or would he stick with old one?

Mikaela grinned as she watched Kageyama try the new set- and she winced as the ball dropped a foot short of Hinata. The only ones who looked more bewildered than the Fukurodani team were Kageyama's own team- Hinata looked at Kageyama like he had grown a second head. "He's been working for a while on that one, hasn't he," Shimizu mused.

She nodded, smiling. "Yeah. He'll get it, though. If anyone can do it, it's him."

The older manager smiled at her, admiring the faith she had in her cousin. On the court, Tanaka clapped Kageyama on the shoulder. "What's wrong, bruh? It's not like you, messing up like that!"

"Sorry," Kageyama muttered, glaring down at the court. Mikaela could practically see the gears turning in his brain- he was planning the next set in his head. Sure enough, a few points later, Kageyama tried the set again, this time tossing it too long. To her surprise, Hinata's left arm swung out and knocked the ball over the net at the last minute.

"Hinata didn't flail," Mikaela said in surprise. She hadn't known Hinata very long, but the short volleyball was prone to panicking in tricky situations.

Her senpai nodded thoughtfully. "They've all been working really hard."

Sure enough, Azumane proved her words by attempting a jump serve, which was out- but only barely. Sugawara subbed on for Kageyama at one point, and the team's attempt at a synchronized attack resulted in a mistimed set. The next point, Sugawara received the ball, and Nishinoya jumped to volley it- but he ended up jumping too far and the ball hit the ground a foot away from him.

"They're all trying something new," Shimizu said aloud, glancing at the libero as he growled in frustration.

Mikaela hummed in agreement. "I remember watching Fukurodani play last time," she said with a shake of her head, "but I can't remember anything about them. I didn't take notes on them."

Shimizu smiled softly. "They're the team with one of the top aces in the country. Bokuto. He's just shy of the top three, I think."

"Impressive," she mused, glancing to the other team. She was always interested in looking at other top players, especially aces. "Which one is he?"

"Number four," she replied.

Mikaela nodded, watching number four on Fukurodani jump up and spike the ball right through Tsukishima's block. He was good, for sure. But Tsukishima, really... didn't look like he was putting in one hundred percent effort. As per usual, she supposed.

"Uphill sprints!" Sawamura called tiredly, and with a hearty cheer, Hinata took off up the hill. His teammates were hot in pursuit. Mikaela winced- that hill looked steep. She grabbed their water bottles, tucking as many into her arms as she could, and headed to the doorway, passing water bottles off to the team as they came back down the hill.

The rest of the day continued like that. Mikaela felt tired just watching the other teams- game after game after game. And for Karasuno, loss after loss after loss. Mikaela was running around all day: refilling water bottles for the team, grabbing things for Coach Ukai, and so on. Eventually, after the final few sets after dinner, the matches came to an end.

Her legs had been bothering her all day. Mikaela took her evening pills early again- around 5:45 instead of 6:00. It had helped, but the pain was still throbbing through her thighs and her calf and it felt like all her muscles were cramped up.

Despite the eventful day, the Karasuno team still wanted extra practice. Sawamura, Sugawara, and Tanaka were huddled around a tablet screen, watching a video of a synchronized attack. Kageyama wanted to work on his set again. Mikaela had agreed. "I ran out of note paper," she complained to her cousin, reaching for a volleyball from the cart. "I forgot my spare notebook at home."

Kageyama scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Forgetful idiot."

"Egotistical moron."

"Hey!" he complained.

She raised an eyebrow. "Have you spoken to Hinata yet?" His silence confirmed her suspicions. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"Let's just work on that set," Kageyama grumbled. Mikaela raised an eyebrow at him. "...Please?" he forced out.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure."

They were all of two minutes into practicing (honestly, it was just her throwing the ball to Kageyama, he was doing all the practice) when they were interrupted by two of the members of the Shinzen team. "Hey, sorry to interrupt," a tall guy with curly brown hair called out. "You're the Karasuno manager, right?"

She paused. "One of two, yeah. Why?"

"Sorry to trouble you," he apologized again, motioning behind him. Behind him stood a tall, dark-haired guy who was glancing at the floor. "We just wanted to know if you had any of the athletic tape. Chigaya's supposed to tape his fingers together when he plays, but we ran out."

"Tape," Mikaela repeated, glancing at her cousin. Kageyama shrugged- he didn't use tape for his fingers. "Yeah, I can ask, but no guarantees."

"Thanks!" he said with a grin.

Mikaela tossed one last volleyball to Kageyama before she turned and spotted her coach across the gym. She jogged over, ignoring the throbbing in her legs. "Coach!" she called, and he glanced over at her. "Do we have any athletic tape?"

Ukai's eyebrows knit together and he turned to look at Takeda. The teacher pursed his lips, reaching down to his bag. "I thought we did. One second." But a quick search of the bag revealed no results. "Huh. I guess we don't have any. Who's asking?"

"Shinzen team," she said with a shrug.

"Is it urgent?"

"Don't think so."

Ukai frowned. "If it's not urgent, then I suppose it's not an emergency. I thought we had tape, though."

Takeda nodded. "I can't remember using any recently, but we should have some regardless."

"I can go pick it up," she offered.

They both looked at her with blank stares.

"We passed a convenience store of sorts on the way here," Mikaela recalled, crossing her arms. "Not far. Maybe three blocks away. I recognized the store brand, and I'm pretty sure they sell athletic tape. Those little stores like that sell just about anything, and I can get it cheap. I know the way."

Ukai opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. He turned to Takeda, shrugging.

"And you can't tell me that students aren't allowed off the campus area," she said quickly, "because I know for a fact that Kageyama goes on runs whenever you guys have gone to a training camp, and I doubt he just runs laps around the building. If he can manage without getting himself lost, I'll be fine." She glanced up at the clock on the wall. "It's 8:30 now, I'll be back by nine. Probably."

There was a pause. "I don't see why not," Takeda said eventually.

Ukai shrugged. "Fine by me. I can give you some cash, just make sure you get a receipt so we can get funding from the school for it."

"Sweet!" Mikaela said with a grin.

"But." Ukai crossed his arms. "I'd feel a bit better if you went with someone. Just in case."

"Everyone's practicing," Mikaela said with a shrug. "I wouldn't want to-"

"Everyone except one," the coach mused, glancing at someone behind her. "Hey, Tsukishima!"

Mikaela nearly groaned. _Of course._ She didn't really want to know what Coach Ukai was saying to Tsukishima, so she jogged back across the gym to where Karasuno had put their bags. She found her bag and pulled her jacket out. "I'll be back, Kags," she called at her cousin, who was raising an eyebrow at her. "I'm going down to the nearest store to pick up tape."

The Shinzen captain gasped. "No, that's fine! You don't have to go out of your way for us."

"Ah, it's no problem," she assured him, waving. "We need some tape in general, so I may as well."

She jogged back to Coach Ukai, who was conversing with Tsukishima. The blond didn't seem pleased. Go figure- she wasn't exactly thrilled either. But Ukai thrust a fistful of yen into her hands, glared at Tsukishima, and said, "stick together, you two. Tsukishima, you have my number, text me if you need anything."

"Do I have to go?" Tsukishima complained.

Ukai raised an eyebrow. "What were you going to do otherwise?"

"Take a bath and go to bed."

"All the other boys are training," he pointed out. "I'm sure you can spare half an hour to help Mikaela out."

"I don't-" she began to protest, but the coach shot her a look that said 'god so help you if you're going to argue with me now'. "Fine," she said through gritted teeth, sliding her arms through the sleeves of her jacket. "Fine, I'll suffer with him." Her leg was aching again- she shook it out, bothered.

"Great," Takeda said with a smile. "Because it would be a _shame_ if two people in this club didn't... _get along,_ now wouldn't it?"

 _Geez, Takeda-sensei is terrifying sometimes._ "Yes, sensei," the teens muttered.

"Off you go, then," the teacher said pleasantly. "Be back before nine if you can. Tsukishima, text coach if anything comes up."

"Yes, sensei," the blond middle blocker grumbled. He glanced at the manager. "I'm just going to grab my jacket." She waited for him by the gym exit, shot Kageyama a 'please help me' look that he ignored, and then set off with Tsukishima.

The blond, predictably, had brought his headphones, and no sooner were they out the door when he pulled them over his ears. _Fine by me,_ she thought with a scowl. He trailed a few feet behind her as they walked, letting her lead the way. Crap, her leg was _really_ bothering her now. What had she done? She had taken her pills and everything.

"Trust me," Mikaela said, scowling, "I don't like this anymore than you do."

He scoffed, rolling his eyes and jamming his hands in his pockets. "Whatever." They walked for another thirty seconds in silence before, surprisingly, he spoke up. "So, what'd you do?" he asked casually.

Mikaela raised an eyebrow at him. "What'd you mean, what did I do?"

"How you injured yourself."

She froze, nearly stumbling.

 _I'm sorry, what?_

"I don't know what you're talking about," she forced out, stiffening. _What the hell? How does he know? Did Kageyama tell him? No, he wouldn't. How-_ Her leg throbbed in complaint, almost like it was agreeing with her.

"I'm not dumb," he said with a sarcastic laugh.

"Could've fooled me."

He ignored her pointedly, removing his headphones from his ears and letting them rest around his neck. "You limp occasionally. Not often enough to be noticed but I can tell."

 _Crap._ "No-"

"You also love volleyball as much as your moronic cousin," he added, "so much so that just about everyone was surprised that you don't play. You're obviously skilled, based on what Tanaka-san said about the bit he saw of your middle school game, so it doesn't make sense for you to suddenly drop out of volleyball."

She was speechless.

"That, and out of all the times I've teased you," Tsukishima said, his voice quiet, "the only time you've actually gotten riled up and angry was when it was about volleyball."

Damn him.

"So, am I wrong?"

"Why the hell do you care?"

"Well, not much seems to make you mad, so I thought this might."

He may have been joking, or maybe not- but it was still too much for her. Without realizing what she was doing, Mikaela spun on her heel and seized the front of Tsukishima's jacket, catching him temporarily off guard. " _That's_ it?" she said venomously. "Just to _bother_ me?"

Tsukishima didn't even try to push her hands away- he just glanced at her, waiting for an answer.

Mikaela sighed, releasing a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "Yeah. I'm injured. Happy?" She let go of him and shook her hand out, trying not to show him how much his observational skills were freaking her out.

Shit, her leg hurt. She bit her lip as a miniature cramp seized through her left calf. Tsukishima shrugged. "So, what'd you do? Is it permanent?"

"Yes," she snapped angrily, resisting the temptation to punch him. He paused, somewhat surprised- looks like he hadn't been expecting it to be permanent. "Yes, it's permanent. It's none of your business what happened. Why do you even care?"

The blond didn't reply to her question, instead choosing to answer with one of his own. "Who knows what your injury is?"

Mikaela shot him one last glare and turned around, starting to walk again. "You're awfully curious today, Tsukishima," she said through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the pain in her thighs.

"Kageyama, I assume," he said, ignoring her, "and coach."

"Not coach," she snapped. "Again, why do you care?"

"It bothers you, doesn't it?"

The manager growled, clenching her hands into fists. "Shut up," she mumbled, glaring at the ground.

Tsukishima seemed to be satisfied (for the moment) because he didn't reply. Mikaela nearly stumbled- _shit,_ her leg hurt. She huffed, jamming her hands into her pockets and glanced down the street- she couldn't see the store yet but she knew it was close.

The silence was eating away at her. She sighed. "The only ones who know are Kageyama and the two captains from the Aoba Johsai team."

"Oikawa and Iwaizumi?" Tsukishima said in surprise. "Why do they know?"

"Kageyama told them. They came to visit me in the hospital."

"Ah."

Crap. Why the hell were her legs so bad tonight? She'd taken her pills. Her legs felt like they were burning.

"Did your injury have anything to do with your night in the rain?"

It took Mikaela a minute to realize what he was talking about. "Oh. No, that was different."

"Do you do that once a week? Are there days I should avoid taking walks by the park?"

She almost laughed. "No, Tsukishima, that was a one time thing."

He hummed in response, probably putting his headphones back on. She rounded a corner on the street and spotted the store in the distance, maybe another minute of walking. The walk was short- so why were her legs burning so badly?

 _Burning._

Just like her practice at Aoba Johsai a few weeks ago...

 _Crap._

She'd left her bag- with her pills- in the gym.

"Shit."

Tsukishima, annoyed, raised an eyebrow at her. "Now what?" he asked, irritated.

"I- I need to go back," she stammered, resisting the urge to sit down somewhere. "I forgot- shit-"

"Forgot the money?" he said, frowning. "Seriously?"

"No," Mikaela hissed through her teeth. She didn't think she'd need her pills! Crap, she couldn't make the walk back to school- she'd have to try and call him. Her hands fumbled for her phone in her pocket.

The blond sighed in frustration. "Can't it wait until we get back?"

 _No, it can't! I'm not going to be able to walk back at this rate!_ "I- I can call Kageyama," Mikaela forced out, her legs screaming at her. Her fingers pressed at the buttons on her phone, trying to dial his number.

"What the hell did you forget?"

The manager ignored him. Resisting the urge to curse, she pressed the call button, holding the phone to her ear. Her legs were shaking now. _Crap, I need to sit._ She sunk down to her knees, wincing, and collapsed on the sidewalk, trying her hardest to stay in a seated position and not fall on her back. "Ow," she hissed, the phone ringing in her ear. _Come on, Kageyama, pick up, pick up!-_

Tsukishima looked more frustrated than she'd ever seen him. "Mikaela, what the hell? What-"

"I can't walk," she snapped furiously, "give it a-" she couldn't finish her sentence. Mikaela winced as a new wave of cramps seized through her thighs and raced up and down her left calf. She swore- the call went to voicemail. She dialed his number again.

"What?" Tsukishima finally seemed to realize that she was dead serious. "You can't- What? You were fine a minute ago."

"Not exactly!" Mikaela hissed. There were tears sparking in the corners of her eyes- shit, this really hurt. And why did it have to happen around Tsukishima of all people?

The middle blocker seemed to be confused. He was glancing from Mikaela to the phone in her hand to the store down the road, bewildered. "What..." he shook his head. "Is it your injury?"

She shrugged, leaning forwards in a stretch in an effort to ease the pain in her legs. "K- Kind of. Mostly."

"You're not making any sense," he snapped, crouching down so he was at eye level with her. "You-"

"Tsu- Tsukishi-" Mikaela couldn't even finish his name, damn it. The phone went to voice mail again and she furiously pressed redial. "Shut up," she gasped as the cramps got worse. "Fuck," she choked out.

"Okay. Okay, uh..." Tsukishima seemed lost. "What..."

"Call," she hissed through gritted teeth, "Kageyama!" He scowled at her, but regardless, he brought the phone to his ear. Mikaela leaned forwards, nearly touching her toes, allowing the cramps to temporarily subside. "Please p- pick up," she mumbled, squeezing her eyes shut.

 _Kageyama, pick up your damn phone!_

* * *

Takeda tossed him the volleyball, and Kageyama bounced the ball off his fingertips in an arc. He turned immediately, watching the ball fall just short of the water bottle- his target spot. He gritted his teeth. "Another!" he demanded, and Takeda grabbed another volleyball.

No sooner had he set it (missed again, damn it) when Sugawara called his name. "Kageyama! I think your phone's ringing!"

The setter frowned. Who was calling? He thanked Takeda for throwing to him and jogged over to the team's bags, which were all collected in one corner of the gym. "This is your bag, right?" his senior asked, pointing at Kageyama's bag.

He nodded. "Yeah, thank you." Kageyama unzipped his bag and pulled out his phone, glancing at the screen. Mikaela? He hit a button on his phone and brought it to his ear. "Kaisha? What's up?"

 _"Kageyama, for the love of god, you better tell me what the hell is up with your cousin."_

He paused. Sugawara glanced over at him. "Tsukishima? What'd you want? Why do you have Kaisha's phone?"

 _"Because, your Majesty, she's on the ground, in pain, and she can't walk,"_ the blond retorted bluntly, and Kageyama froze. _"She just told me to call you. What the hell do I do?"_

Kageyama cursed- loudly. He glanced back at the pile of bags, and sure enough, his cousin's was still there. He grabbed the straps of her bag and tossed it over his shoulder. "I'm on my way," he said, already running towards the door, nearly knocking over Tanaka in his hurry.

"Bruh! What's the rush?" Tanaka cried out.

"Kageyama?" Sugawara called. "What's wrong?"

"I'll be back," he called back, stumbling out the door. "I'll explain later!"

 _Shit._

* * *

"He hung up," Tsukishima told her, handing her phone back to her. "He says he's on his way but he told me nothing about what the hell this is."

She grunted in response, tucking her phone in her jacket pocket. "Thanks," she croaked out, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. _Please hurry,_ she thought, not sure when the next wave of cramps would happen. _  
_

"Mind explaining to me what the hell is going on?" the blond snapped.

Mikaela was getting so tired of dealing with him that she forced out, "cramps, dumbass." His eyebrows flew to the top of his head and she saw his cheeks tinge red, and then she groaned. "No, not _those_ s- sort of cramps, d- dumbass. Leg cramps."

"Leg cramps," he repeated. "And how is your cousin supposed to help?"

"He'll b... he'll bring me my bag."

"And what's that going to do?"

She hissed through her teeth; the next wave of cramps caused her to wince. "Medi- fuck," she scowled, blinking tears away.

Tsukishima grew quiet, moving into a seated position rather than a crouch. "Medication?" he asked, and she nodded. "This happens regularly?"

"It's not- _shit-_ not supposed to," she said with a gasp as her calf seized up. "Ow, ow, ow, fuck."

"You've got quite the colourful vocabulary."

"Sh- shut the _fuck_ up, Tsu- Tsukishima."

The blond didn't take notice of her retort, instead observing her as she winced and leaned over, reaching her hands out to touch her toes. "Is there..." he trailed off. Mikaela saw him lace his fingers together. "Is there anything I can do that would help?" he said quietly, almost sounding embarrassed. "Not that I care," he added hastily.

Mikaela was so surprised by the sudden question that she barely noticed the next set of cramps rolling through her thighs. Tsukishima was glaring at the ground, fiddling with his fingers. "No, that's okay," she said softly, choosing not to tease him. "Act- actually, yeah. D- Distract me."

"Distract you? Distract you how?"

"T- talk about something," Mikaela replied, "I don't care what."

He paused. "Okay. Did you know that the name 'velociraptor' means speedy thief?"

For the second time in thirty seconds, she was surprised. "What?"

Tsukishima shrugged. "A T-Rex bite is more than two times as powerful as a lion's bite."

"You like dinosaurs?"

"I just know random facts," he denied, rolling his eyes.

She smiled softly. "Dinosaurs are c- cool."

He smirked, using that as an invitation to continue. "The word 'dinosaur' just mean terrible lizard in Greek."

Mikaela surprised herself- she laughed. "Huh."

"And-"

"Kaisha!"

The black-haired girl glanced up to see her cousin racing down the road, her backpack swung over his shoulder. "Thank god," she breathed, trying to sit up a bit straighter. Tsukishima stood up quickly, watching the setter run towards them.

Kageyama skidded to a stop in front of her, thrusting her water bottle at her, and unzipped her front pouch. "Yellow or blue?" he asked, pulling out both containers from her bag.

"I don't care," she said through gritted teeth, starting to unscrew the cap on her water bottle, and he dumped two pills from the blue container into her hand. She tipped her head back, taking a gulp of water, then dumped one of the pills in and swallowed. She repeated this again, nearly gagging the second time around. "I'll be good," Mikaela forced out, locking her knees up as her calf twinged again, "in a few."

"We really need to stop meeting like this," Tsukishima said dryly, referring to their meeting in the rain.

"But there's no rain this time, Bean Pole," her cousin said, grabbing her hand and squeezing briefly.

The blond rolled his eyes. "I meant in general, your Majesty. Your cousin needs to give me a schedule on when she's going to be collapsing or hiding in the park during a rainstorm so I know what days to avoid."

"Shut it," Mikaela murmured, no force behind her words. She winced and curled her legs towards her. "Ow! Holy crap, ow."

"If it hurts, don't do it," Tsukishima said with a scowl. "Dumbass."

She didn't even have the energy to retort. Kageyama knelt down next to her, glancing at her worriedly. "How bad was it?"

"Bad," the manager grunted, waiting for the pain to subside.

"Like, worse than that time with Iwaizumi and Oikawa?" She nodded, and he sighed. "Sorry. I should've gotten here faster."

"Nothing you... you could do," she muttered. "I don't even know why this happened. I took my pills at dinner and everything." Mikaela frowned. She'd never had a random attack out of the blue like that.

Kageyama shook his head. "Maybe the fact that you were active for a lot longer today than most days?"

"That could be it," she agreed.

The silence that followed was awkward, but Mikaela was concentrating on her legs. She straightened her legs out again, biting her lip. "It's getting better," she mumbled, grabbing the water bottle again. "Give it another minute."

She perked up. Footsteps, fast and coming from the direction of the school. Did someone follow Kageyama? The trio glanced over to see Sugawara hurtling around the corner, out of breath. "Kageyama! What the- Mikaela! Are you alright?"

"Sugawara-senpai," the black-haired girl said, cursing softly. "Oh, I'm fine. I promise."

He frowned at her, kneeling down next to her. "Are you sure? Are you hurt? Kageyama took off like a shot so everyone's a bit worried."

Mikaela ran through an extensive vocabulary of curse words in her head before she smiled. "I just felt a bit dizzy, that's all. I had a headache on the bus, and I thought it was going away. I guess not. I just needed to sit for a bit," she lied. The vice captain didn't look entirely convinced, so she added, "Kags here just worries a lot. I had some headache pills in my bag so he brought them with him."

"You're sure you're okay?" Sugawara repeated, his eyebrows furrowing together.

She nodded firmly. "Yeah. It'll kick in soon."

He exhaled slowly. "Fine. If you're sure."

"I am," Mikaela said. She extended her hand to Kageyama. "Help me up," she demanded, raising an eyebrow. It was her way of saying, _my legs feel fine now._ He understood and grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet and handing her the backpack, which she tugged over her back. "Sorry to make you come out all this way, Sugawara-senpai," she apologized, bowing. "I'll go buy what I needed to and then I'll head right back."

Sugawara sighed, waving her off. "It's no problem! I'm just glad you're okay." He paused, then glanced at Tsukishima. "I'll go with Tsukishima and get the tape. You head back to the school."

She bit her lip, but she'd already pushed her luck enough today. "Are you sure? I can go."

"Do I have to go?" the blond complained. She smacked him in the arm and he glared at her.

"Yeah, we'll just be a minute," the vice captain said with a grin. Mikaela reached into her pocket and handed Sugawara the money that Ukai had given her, and the setter grinned again. "I'll call coach and let him know what's going on. C'mon, Tsukishima."

Grumbling, Tsukishima trailed after the grey-haired setter, muttering something under his breath. Kageyama turned towards her as soon as the pair were out of earshot. "Are you good? Your cramps are gone?"

"Mostly," she said truthfully. "Only took a few minutes."

He started walking, and she followed, her legs shaky. _I'm fine. I'll be fine._ Mikaela jogged for a second to catch up to her cousin before she slowed to a walk. "So," Kageyama said slowly, raising an eyebrow at her. "How much does Tsukishima know?"

She sighed. "Too much."

"You going to tell him?"

"Should I?"

He paused, debating the issue in his head. "I don't know," Kageyama replied honestly, shrugging. "Do you think you should?"

"I think I should," she said softly. "He's already caught bits and pieces of everything so I wouldn't be surprised if he figures it out."

Her cousin hummed in agreement, jamming his hands in his pockets. "That bean pole has a talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

She laughed.

"Yeah, I guess he does."

* * *

"Mhm. Yeah, she's fine. I just figured, since I'm out here, I may as well. Yeah." Sugawara paused, hearing Coach Ukai yell at someone else. "Tanaka wants a what?" he sighed. "Yeah, his magazine. Yes, I'll get his magazine. And Nishinoya? Yeah. Alright. Be back soon, coach."

The grey-haired setter hung up, then turned and grinned at Tsukishima. "One minute we're just getting tape, and now it's a full on shopping trip. I'm getting some of Nishinoya's favourite candy and that the girls' volleyball magazine for Tanaka."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "What's Tanaka want with a girls' magazine?"

"Apparently, he's friends with one of the girls on the Niiyama team. He wants to see if she's made it into the magazine yet- they always do a page or two on Niiyama." Sugawara sighed softly, putting his hands in his pockets. "Tsukishima, was she lying?"

The blond frowned. "What?"

"Was Mikaela lying?" he asked again, glancing at him. "Was it actually just a headache?"

Tsukishima thought for a second. It was obvious to him now that whatever injury Mikaela had was permanent and there were lasting effects. But in the two months she'd been in the club, she'd been fine- up until now.

"No," he answered eventually. "Just a headache."

Sugawara hummed in confirmation and pushed the door to the store open, and Tsukishima trailed after him, wondering what on earth had just possessed him to lie for the sake of a girl he could barely tolerate.

* * *

 _They split up into teams to try some practice matches. Mikaela was more than ready to go, and she was especially fired up now that this Kinomi girl had basically declared war on her. Just her luck, the blonde girl was on the other team, set up to serve._

 _She was positioned in the back row, ready to receive. Her gut told her that the serve was coming from her._

 _And judging by the glare Kinomi sent her way, it was_ definitely _coming for her._

 _The blonde girl leaped and hit the ball hard enough to send it whistling through the air. For someone so young, to have a jump serve this strong was quite the accomplishment. Mikaela almost grinned as the serve curved her way, and she lunged forwards, digging the ball up into the air._

 _"Nice receive!" the setter called, setting herself up to prepare for the attack. She sent the ball to the far side of the court and one of the taller, dark-haired girls hit the ball to the ground. "Nice spike!"_

 _Mikaela grinned, rotating to the front of the court. Kinomi was shooting daggers at her._

You're going to have to try harder than that to get a service ace on a former libero, _she thought smugly. Kinomi's plan had backfired on herself- in her effort to humiliate Mikaela or get back at her, she'd only made her serve look easy to receive._

 _One of the Niiyama girls on her team served. The ball was received and spiked, but one of the girls on her team saved it. She called for it, and the setter tossed the ball in Mikaela's direction, and she leaped, ready to aim her spike for Kinomi in the back row._

 _Change of plans- she tipped it._

 _Kinomi dove for the ball, but she hadn't been anticipating the tip, and was a second too slow. She glared up at the black-haired girl as she landed from her jump, smirking._

 _"Challenge accepted," she taunted, grinning at Kinomi._

 _The blonde girl growled and turned away._

 _Oh, this would be fun._

* * *

 **Wow. Okay, for starters, the chapter wasn't supposed to be this long. Seven thousand words?! ...Sorry? (Unless you like longer chapters? In that case, I hope you enjoyed!) I thought about splitting it up, but there was really nowhere I could split it without making one chapter unreasonably short or leaving it with Kageyama picking up the phone, which I didn't really want to do.**

 **Mikaela's 'cramping'(as we'll call it for now) may seem odd or a bit unrealistic but I'm going to try my best to explain it in due time. You know when a muscle cramps up and you spend forever trying to flex it out? And when you bend it the wrong way, it seizes up again? That's similar to what Mikaela's going through, but her situation is a bit more severe.**

 **Sayori1412:** I'm so glad you liked the banter, that was so much fun to write! I really hope you liked this chapter, then ;) Thank you so much for your review!

 **snowlikestardust:** I'm glad you liked it, thank you for reviewing! :)

 **jungkookies:** I'm a sucker for childhood rivals, ugh. Yeah, the rival's going to make an appearance eventually... although not in the most likely place, I think. I'm still working out the details. I'm glad you hate her mother as much as I do! And in concerns to pairings, they aren't my main priority in this story. I'm trying to develop her as a character. Tsukishima is most likely who she'll end up with; she gets close with him by accident in this chapter :P But I've got some more plans for them and their friendship in general, not just a ship, so... we'll see. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Well over 3000 views? I'm sobbing you guys are too nice**

 **It was a long chapter, but I hope to hear your thoughts! Thank you! :)**


	13. The Article

**Thank you so much to Sayori1412, CriticalTeacher, KodonaPrince, KrypticKoala, ohnoestadpoles, KotoriZ, DKMaria, Kaiko Pyon, CryingHands, Avenger'slover16, and kay . tonn for the love and support! :D**

* * *

Mikaela hadn't even gone back to the gym. She was too mentally and physically exhausted to try and deal with overbearing team mates (she loved them all already, but being asked over and over again if she was alright by not just one team but six teams who were interested in her well-being was just too much). Kageyama steered her towards the place where they were staying for the night and then left to head back to the gym.

She changed from her track pants into red flannel pajama bottoms and traded her black t-shirt for a navy blue tank top with a volleyball on the back. It was a shirt that her dad had gotten her for her birthday last year.

Mikaela was still feeling the last of the effects from the cramps, cursing her mother as she stretched before she slipped into her blankets. This was partially her fault, but blaming her mother never got her anywhere.

She should've spent at least two more months in the hospital.

Not a month and a half.

Mikaela exhaled, leaning further into her stretch and pondering this to herself. At the time, she'd been eager to get out of the hospital- ready to get back to normal. Although she knew that she wouldn't be playing volleyball soon, she just wanted to go to school and hang out with Kageyama and pretend there was nothing wrong with her life.

Her mother, for once, felt the same way. All for her reputation, of course. Couldn't have a child of hers in the hospital, not while Mikaela had school to do and expectations to live up to. People didn't bend easily to persuasion- so, when Mikaela's mother threw more money at them than they knew what to do with, the hospital staff let Mikaela out, with a few strict conditions, of course.

Now, she was beginning to feel the consequences of the two months she missed. It was only getting worse, and although she'd gotten used to moving with her injury, it wasn't easy.

"Ugh," she groaned, slipping under the blankets and letting her head fall against the pillow. This was a lot for one day.

Eh, she'd wait to deal with it tomorrow. Procrastination at its finest.

As soon as she closed her eyes, Mikaela was out like a light.

* * *

"Tanaka, I got your magazine," Sugawara called, yawning as he entered the boys' room. Not to his surprise, no one had gone to bed yet. They'd been kicked out of the gym, sure, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be staying up until ungodly hours. "I mean, it came out a week ago, but it's the most recent one. Nishinoya, here's your candy."

Tanaka and Nishinoya were sitting together on one of the mats with Ennoshita, Narita, and Kinoshita. Upon hearing his name, Tanaka's eyes lit up. "Thanks, Suga-senpai! You're the best!"

"Girls!" Nishinoya cheered with his candy bag clutched in one hand, causing Daichi to roll his eyes. The two eager boys started flipping through the magazine.

"I'm going to bed," Tsukishima grumbled, and Sugawara rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for coming with me, Tsukishima," the vice captain said with a grin. The blond huffed, shrugging. Sugawara turned to Kageyama, who was wrestling with Hinata. "Kageyama, is Mikaela alright?"

The younger setter threw Hinata off long enough to say, "yeah, she's fine," before the orange-haired boy launched himself at his partner again, and they went down squabbling.

"How immature are they?" Tsukishima said with a scoff. Yamaguchi laughed. "Do morons never get tired?"

The duo broke apart for a second to yell, "hey!" at their common enemy.

"Break it up," Daichi said with a yawn. "We've got another long day ahead of us tomorrow."

At the idea of doing more volleyball tomorrow, the freak twins finally broke apart, scowling at each other. Asahi sighed, relieved that the fighting had stopped. The scaredy-cat ace nearly flinched when Nishinoya and Tanaka screamed at the same time.

"Now what?" Ennoshita said with a sigh.

"We're at the Niiyama page!" Tanaka said excitedly. "I went to middle school with Niiyama's future ace!"

"Yeah, the Niiyama girls get a whole two pages to themselves," Kinoshita murmured, glancing over Tanaka's shoulder. Narita nodded along, watching his nearly-bald friend flip the page.

Nishinoya nearly pounced on Tanaka in excitement. "Which one is she? Which one?"

"That's her!" Tanaka yelled triumphantly, jabbing a finger at a picture of a girl with short black hair leaping up for a spike. The caption underneath read: _Amanai Kanoka: Rising Star!_ The page was adorned with multiple other girls in volleyball stances, all of whom looked professional.

"She's pretty, Ryū!" the libero said excitedly.

He laughed. "I know!"

He flipped the page.

And then the boys fell silent.

Daichi, who was chatting with Suga at the far side of the room, actually stopped mid-conversation to glance at the group of second years, all of whom were staring at the magazine page with wide eyes. "Tanaka?" he called uncertainly, glancing at Suga. These boys were never quiet. Suga shrugged.

Ennoshita glanced up at them, his eyes betraying his surprise. "It's Mikaela."

 _"What?"_

"She's on the page," Narita said in disbelief.

Sure enough, in the bottom right-hand corner of the second page, was a photo of their manager. She, unlike the other girls, wasn't in a specific pose or stance. She was wearing her volleyball uniform and had a volleyball tucked under one arm. The dark-haired girl was grinning sheepishly at the camera and flashing two fingers in a peace sign. Her face was flushed, and she looked genuinely happy.

Tsukishima, not willing to move, sat up from where he was laying down, curious. Yamaguchi was already heading over to where all the boys were crowded. Hinata was already there, bouncing around the mat in an effort to see the page.

The only other one who hadn't moved was Kageyama, who was sitting cross-legged on his mat and seemed to be deep in thought.

"I thought she didn't play volleyball," Hinata said in awe. "Why's she on the Niiyama page?"

"She's not wearing a Niiyama uniform," Daichi pointed out, noting the dark blue colour of her jersey. "That's a Kitagawa Daiichi volleyball uniform."

Sugawara frowned. "So it's a photo from her in middle school?"

"Did you read the caption?" Yamaguchi asked.

 _Mikaela Kaisha, Powerhouse Rookie: Vanished?_

There was a sudden fight for the magazine- Nishinoya tugged the page towards him. "I wanna read it!"

"Hey! It's my magazine!"

"I wanna see it!" Hinata joined in.

"I'll read it," Sugawara interrupted. "I'll read it out loud."

Knowing that everyone was interested in the article (even Tsukishima- how weird was that?), Tanaka handed the magazine over, and the group crowded around Suga like a pack of preschoolers waiting for story time.

Suga cleared his throat. "Alright. Mikaela Kaisha," he read, "from Kitagawa Daiichi Junior High, chose Niiyama as the team to spend her high school years on. She earned a scholarship to the school and was set to be one of the toughest rookies in Miyagi this year, but as of the end of April, there's been no sign of her."

Tanaka looked like he wanted to interject, but his captain elbowed him in a silent message. The second year pinched his lips together and listened.

"She was seen at the team's practice game against Shiratorizawa Academy's Girls team, but she wasn't on the roster for this year's Inter High," Suga continued, his eyebrows knitting together. "Due to her ambidextrous ability and the nickname 'Demon' from her last few months in Junior High, people were definitely on the look out for this girl who could easily become one of the top high school aces in the country. But she's vanished from the map- there was no sign of her at the Inter High and there's no clue to where she is now.

"The Niiyama coach was unavailable for comment," Sugawara finished slowly, glancing at the final words in the mini article.

The team was uncharacteristically quiet.

"So," Daichi said slowly, "she wasn't just on the team. She was _good._ Like, really good."

"Good enough to get a scholarship," Yamaguchi said in awe, peeking over Sugawara's shoulder.

"Good enough that she attracted enough attention in middle school to have the press make an article about her in high school," Ennoshita added, shaking his head.

Asahi swallowed, probably out of nerves. "What does it mean, she's missing? She's... right here. At Karasuno."

That was a question that no one had an answer to. Sugawara looked over to Daichi, thinking. Even Nishinoya looked lost in thought. None of them were close with the manager, after all; of course they didn't know her life story. Everyone except...

"She transferred," Kageyama said once he realized everyone was staring at him. "She just didn't tell anyone."

It was a shock to everyone when Tsukishima was the one to speak up. "How exactly does that work, King?" he said with a scoff, rolling his eyes. "The article said she was seen at a practice game, and then not at all. How'd she move without _anyone_ noticing where she went?"

Kageyama glared at him. _Because her mother paid a crap ton of hush money._ "It's not my story to tell, and none of my business," he said with a shrug.

"So you know why," Sugawara clarified.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"And she's ambidextrous?" Nishinoya pressed, eyes wide. "She can use both her left and right hands?"

"So that's what it means," Hinata mused.

Kageyama nodded again. "She worked for a long time in Junior High to be able to use her left as well as her right."

"So she prefers her right hand?" Narita asked.

"Yeah, but she uses both comfortably."

There was a long pause as the team took time to digest this new information. So their manager had just... disappeared from the volleyball world? Why? How?

"Kageyama," Tsukishima said quietly, his eyes narrowed, "why did she transfer?"

The black-haired setter matched his gaze, his expression pained. "I can't say." Where would he start? An injury, not getting along with team mates, but most importantly, her mother...

"You can't say?" Tanaka asked in disbelief. "But-"

"Tanaka," Daichi interrupted, rubbing his eyes. "It's been a long day. Let's go to bed. If you're feeling brave, you can ask Mikaela tomorrow."

It seemed like Tanaka was about to protest when the group simultaneously remembered what happened on the first day of practice with Mikaela when Hinata had badgered her about why she wasn't playing volleyball. They remembered her glare which rivaled that of a shark, and the scary aura around her that had obviously screamed, 'if you dare speak one more word to me I will rip your head off'.

"Nope," Tanaka said immediately.

"I'll pass," Ennoshita quipped, Narita and Kinoshita nodded behind him.

"No thanks," Yamaguchi said, shuddering.

"No way," Asahi murmured, scared just thinking about it.

Nishinoya grimaced and shook his head quickly.

Hinata looked like he had just tasted something sour.

Kageyama wanted to laugh- Mikaela's first impression on the volleyball club had left _this_ kind of impact? At least now, she wouldn't get questions. He didn't want to disturb her, but he'd let her know tomorrow. It was probably best if the team knew, anyways.

"Tsukishima, you should ask," Ennoshita said suddenly.

All eyes turned to the blond, who cocked an eyebrow and frowned. "No thanks."

"She seems to tolerate you well enough," Daichi said with a shrug, and, thinking of their banter from a few days ago, added, "besides, you're one of the only ones that could bring this up and not get punched."

"I hope he gets punched," Tanaka muttered under his breath, and Sugawara smacked him.

Tsukishima half expected Yamaguchi to leap to his defense, but to his surprise, the smaller boy was glancing up at Tsukishima with concerned eyes. _Even Yamaguchi?_ He sighed, shaking his head. _I already tried asking, and she didn't tell me everything._

"She..." he trailed off. Should he mention that she had to leave due to an injury?

Judging by the way Kageyama was glaring at him, he shouldn't.

"Just ask her yourselves," he grumbled, falling back onto his mat. "I don't have a death wish, thanks."

That seemed to symbolize the end of the conversation. One by one, the Karasuno boys settled down to sleep, ready for the next day of the training camp.

* * *

 _ **Kageyama Tobio (22:38):**_ _Your'e screwed_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (05:47):_** _Wait what how_

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (05:52):_** _*You're_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (05:53):_** _Kageyama what the hell_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (05:53):_** _How am I screwed what happened_

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (05:54):_ **_You were in a magazine_

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (05:54):_** _Going for a run brb_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (05:54):_** _Don't you fucking dare leave me on that_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (05:55):_** _Kageyama Tobio get back here_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (05:57):_** _TOBIO_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (06:03):_** _I hate you_

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (06:40):_** _There was an article on the niiyama girls and you were there_

 _ **Kageyama Tobio (06:41):** It was about how you vanished and no one knows where you are and how good you are_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (06:43):_** _Shit._

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (06:44):_** _Yep_

* * *

 _She stayed for extra volleyball practice as often as she could, every night of the week._

 _Every night except Thursdays._

 _Thursdays were the days that her father didn't work in the evening._

 _Since she moved to live her father closer to Niiyama, she hadn't seen him much. They lived in a tiny apartment about a ten minute walk from the school. Her father, since the divorce, had been working tirelessly with three jobs in order to provide for himself and his daughter until he got a full time job. He was a teacher during the day at a local elementary school, a manager at the fast-food place in town every weekday night, and he worked as a construction worker on the weekends to help build the new retirement home in the city._

 _Mikaela loved her dad. She really did._

 _So, she came home every Thursday night as soon as volleyball was over._ _She dashed up the stairs to her apartment, taking the stairs two at a time, and fished for the key in her pocket when she got to their apartment door. When Mikaela entered, she realized that she'd beaten her father home- but only by a bit. He'd be home in twenty minutes or so, like he normally was._

 _"I'll make cookies!" she chirped to herself, snatching the package of cookie mix from the cupboard._

 _Fifteen minutes later, the cookies were in the oven, and five minutes after that, her father pushed open the door. "Man, it smells good in here," he called, and Mikaela poked her head out of the kitchen. "Hey, pro! How was practice?"_

 _"Hey Dad!" Mikaela called. She bounded over to him and grabbed him in a hug. "Practice was good, how were the kids today?"_

 _"Little brats, like usual," he said affectionately, kissing her on the forehead. "Making me cookies, pro?"_

 _"Yep!"_

 _"Bet they taste like garbage."_

 _"Hey!"_

 _"Kidding, kidding," he said with a laugh, setting his bag on the ground. "I bet they'll taste fantastic, I can't wait. How much longer?"_

 _"Five minutes," she hummed, glancing at the timer on the oven. "Oh, I got my first math test back today."_

 _"Already two weeks into school and you got a test," Mikaela Rousagi said, shaking his head. "Ridiculous. How'd ya do?"_

 _"Thirty one out of thirty five!"_

 _Her father grinned at her and raised his hands up. "That's what I'm talking about, Kai! Good job!"_

 _"Heck yeah!" she cried, high-fiving him._

 _"I think you mean, hell yeah," her dad corrected._

 _"Alright. Hell yeah!"_

 _He laughed and took his coat off, hanging it up in the closet by the door. "Alright, kiddo, what'd you want for dinner?"_

 _"Oh! Pizza!"_

 _"Pizza?" Rousagi grinned at her, already heading for the kitchen. "Again?"_

 _"Yep! That's the best thing I've tried that you said was from Canada!"_

 _"They eat pizza in a lot of places, pro. Not just Canada."_

 _"Still! I want pizza!"_

 _"Fine, fine. What on it?"_

 _"Pepperoni! And mushrooms!"_

 _"Pineapple?"_

 _"Ew, dad, no way!"_

 _Her father burst into laughter and she joined him, her grin stretched from ear to ear. "You better help me make it, then, or else I'll put pineapple on it," he threatened. Mikaela's eyes flashed and she grinned, racing into the kitchen._

 _They made themselves home-made pizzas, and her father turned on some music. Soon enough, they were singing along with no concern for how bad they sounded (because they were very much off-key) and messing up half the words. By the time they were done, they had cookies out of the oven, pizzas in the oven, Mikaela's sweater was covered in flour, and her father had tomato sauce on his pants._

 _But they were having the time of their lives, and Mikaela wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world._

* * *

 **Sayori1412:** Soon... Sooner than you think. ;) My priority with Mikaela and Tsukishima right now is developing their _friendship_ , not a relationship. That's what I'm trying to do now. Sure, that 'unique form of flirting' you talked about is there, but my priority is their friendship. If they flirt a bit along the way, so be it. XD Anywho, thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked that bit with Kuroo, I've been picturing their first interaction for a while. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **That flashback bit is important. Mikaela's father was a huge part of her life until she moved back to live with her mother, and he's definitely her favourite of her two parents, even though he works three jobs and she doesn't see him a lot. I wanted to show a bit about their life together, so here we are.**

 **Thank you so much for fifty favourites! I'm so grateful to all of you for the support!**

 **See you next week :)**


	14. The Persistent Dumbasses (Ugh)

**Many thanks to ice fox 76, lei01150221, linzi, Kittycat1700, RoseRune, Shadow Wolf 15846, SumCheeze, and Sayori1412 for the much appreciated support :)**

* * *

The next day, there was an odd presence around Mikaela that crushed any hope of asking her about the magazine article.

She almost looked like she was on full defense mode. Sugawara had approached her to ask how she feeling from the previous day and she had flinched when he touched her shoulder and unintentionally glared at him before apologizing. She scuttled around and did her manager duties with Shimizu like she was supposed to, oddly quiet. Kageyama had a hushed conversation with her at the sideline and she looked like she may strangle someone.

Naturally, no one was overly keen to be on the receiving end of Mikaela's temper. They all valued their lives, thank you very much.

When night fell, Mikaela started collecting water bottles and towels. The boys were calming down, laughing about how they still hadn't won a single game that day. She sighed, glancing up as the silver-haired ace from Fukurodani approached. "Hey, Four-Eyes!" he called, his eyes bright with energy. "Wanna come help me practice spiking?"

He was talking to _Tsukishima?_ Mikaela almost laughed. Yeah, right.

As she predicted, the blond ducked the question. "No thanks, I'll pass." Undeterred, the Fukurodani ace took off in pursuit of his next victim- which happened to be the Nekoma captain, Kuroo. Mikaela rolled her eyes.

Hinata nearly attacked the tall middle blocker. "Whoa, what the heck? When did you get to be friends with Fukurodani's ace? Why'd you say no? You could've practiced with him! What a waste!"

"We're not friends," Tsukishima corrected bitterly, avoiding eye contact. "Quit bugging me. I'm not a stupid bottomless well of energy."

Mikaela shook her head and sighed. "Not like he'd actually say yes to extra practice," she murmured. Yamaguchi overheard her and chuckled.

"Yeah," the boy said with a sigh. He glanced at his friend worriedly as the blond started packing up his stuff.

"Who put sand in Tsukishima's shorts?" Hinata complained loudly, stomping over towards the manager and the pinch server. "Fukurodani's ace personally asked him to practice and he said no! Can you believe that?"

"The president himself could ask Tsukishima to play and he'd say no," Mikaela said with a roll of her eyes.

Hinata's eyes bugged out of his head. "The president?!"

"Hey, Hinata," Yamaguchi said, glancing at the orange-haired spiker. "What would you say to Tsukki about the way he's acting now?" Hinata cocked his head, confused and Yamaguchi tried to elaborate. "Like, uh, how you said those things to Kageyama those times?"

"I wouldn't say anything," Hinata confessed, scratching the back of his head. "I don't even know if Tsukishima even wants to play volleyball."

That was a good point. The blocker acted like he'd rather be anywhere else... But he kept showing up, didn't he? "I don't think he hates it," Mikaela added, causing both the boys to look at her. "I mean, he still shows up, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, that's what I was going to say," Yamaguchi said, lacing his fingers together. "He doesn't hate it." Hinata shrugged, no longer caring, and took off to go practice his new quick set with Kageyama.

"So why does he always show up?" the black-haired girl asked. She laughed. "That sounded bad. I mean, why does he keep coming out to practice? Does he have a family member that forces him to do it? Is it because you're here?" She thought of her mother and nearly laughed- her mother forcing her to play volleyball would be the day that hedgehogs flew.

The pinch server paused, shrugging. "His older brother played. I wonder..." he trailed off. Frowning, he turned to the manager. "Mikaela-san, what-"

"Drop the san. Please."

"Okay, Mikaela, what would you say to Tsukishima?"

"Is this the same question you asked Hinata?" she clarified, and he nodded. Mikaela pursed her lips. "Um... I'm not sure. I guess... I'd probably ask him why."

Yamaguchi frowned. "Why what?"

"Why he plays volleyball," she said softly, watching some of the players practicing out of the corner of her eye. "I mean, he seems to get frustrated during almost every practice. And the people bother him. And he doesn't seem to enjoy himself. I just want to know what motivates him." She looked at Yamaguchi. "What would you say to him?"

Yamaguchi's mouth opened, and then closed. "I don't know," he said uncertainly.

"Actually," Mikaela corrected, smiling, "I think you do."

The dark-haired boy met her gaze, surprised, and then he grinned. "Thanks, Mikaela-san!"

"Drop the san!"

"I'll be back!"

The pinch server took off, the same way Tsukishima had gone, and Mikaela grinned. It looked like Yamaguchi had an idea- she'd leave him to whatever he was doing. She glanced off at where her cousin was practicing, but he seemed really into it- he and Hinata were working like machines. She didn't want to interrupt; it looked like they didn't really need any help.

 _It wouldn't hurt to go to bed early, either._ She yawned, blinking the sleep out of her eyes, and grabbed her bag. She waved to the coach, telling him that she was off to bed, and was so close to making it out the door until she heard-

"Hey! Mikaela! Mikaela-chan!"

Mikaela turned and groaned. Waving to her was Nekoma's Captain, from the far court. Standing with him was Fukurodani's ace- Bokuto?- and their setter. "Look, don't call me that," she growled, the additional suffix reminding her too much of Oikawa's nickname for her. "And I'm sorry about the rooster comment yesterday."

Bokuto's eyes bugged out of his head. "She called you a rooster?"

Kuroo waved him off. "I don't care about that. You mind helping us out? You've played volleyball, haven't you?"

Mikaela pondered the idea of strangling the volleyball captain but decided against it. Had he read that stupid article too? Is that how he knew? "I don't see how I could be a help to you," she said breezily.

"Have you played volleyball?" he asked again.

She resisted the urge to smack her head off the door frame. "Why," she said through gritted teeth, "is everyone _so insistent_ on asking me about playing volleyball?" The ace's eyes widened, and he glanced at his setter.

"Look, we need another blocker, this moron's getting around one blocker too often," Kuroo explained, jabbing a thumb at the Fukurodani ace, who squabbled in protest. "And you're tall. So you'll work."

"I'm not a player," Mikaela forced out. The invitation was very, very tempting... When was the last time she'd actually practiced with other people? "Besides, I'm a girl. I'll hardly be a challenge."

"Prove it," Bokuto challenged, stretching his arm across his body and grinning at her. "I bet you could give Kuroo a run for his money."

Mikaela glanced at the Nekoma captain, who was easily half a foot taller than her. He grinned at her and she scowled. "Yeah, right."

"Mikaela?" She turned around, and there was Tsukishima, raising an eyebrow. "What're you doing here?"

"These idiots are trying to get me to block for them," she replied, causing Bokuto and Kuroo to cry out in protest. The other Fukurodani player, the setter, sighed and shook his head. Mikaela felt sorry for him.

Tsukishima smirked at her. "Wow, they must be truly desperate."

In spite of herself, she grinned. "Well, I'm an upgrade from you, at least."

"In what category? Temper?"

"Just about everything," she shot back.

"Not height, though."

Her jaw dropped. "Okay, I'm not even short! I'm taller than most girls my age!"

"You're still short."

"Why, you-"

"Ahem." Kuroo coughed into his fist, and the pair turned to see him watching them, amusement shining in his eyes. "As fun as it would be to watch you two argue all day, why don't you both come block for us?"

"Actually, I had a question," Tsukishima said. "Can I ask you something?"

Kuroo paused, and shrugged. "Sure," he and Bokuto said in unison.

"Thank you," the blond mumbled, and Mikaela was so surprised at the fact that Tsukishima was going out of his way to ask older, more experienced players something that she didn't interrupt. "I appreciate it. Both of your teams are half-decent, right?"

Mikaela laughed. Kuroo and Bokuto squawked in protest.

"And even if you made it to Nationals, winning everything is difficult, correct?"

"But not impossible!" Bokuto cried out, glaring at the blocker.

"How about we call this a theoretical discussion and just listen?" the Fukurodani setter said tiredly.

Tsukishima's eyes went from the floor to stare at the older players with determination in his gaze. "I'm genuinely curious about this. What makes you practice so hard? Volleyball is just a club. In the end, all this gets you is the chance to write 'worked hard in school sports' on job applications in the future, right?"

Mikaela was surprised. So Tsukishima didn't hate volleyball- he just didn't understand why people worked so hard for something that would, seemingly, have no benefit to them in the future. It was very... Tsukishima-like.

She could give him plenty of reasons. Reasons why she worked so hard despite her injury, why she was a manager, why she played in Junior High, why she spent her free time tossing a volleyball in the air.

"What? 'Just a club' sounds like someone's name."

Mikaela had to do everything in her power to not collapse out of the sheer stupidity of that statement. It only made it worse when Kuroo added on to Bokuto's comment, saying, "Yeah, it really does! Justin Klubb!" He frowned. "No wait, that's not right- he said just _a_ club."

Bokuto groaned. "Ugh, you're right! It doesn't sound like a name after all!"

"So close!"

"Do you have to deal with this every day?" Mikaela asked the Fukurodani setter, who looked at the situation like he'd seen this before.

He sighed. "Yeah. Don't bother trying to stop it, they'll just keep going."

"I'm so sorry," she told him, and he smiled faintly.

"Hey, Four-Eyes!" Bokuto said finally, snapping out of his conversation with Kuroo. "Do you think volleyball is fun?"

"It's Tsukishima," the blond grumbled. He cocked his head, shrugging. "Not really, I guess."

Bokuto sighed, shaking his head. "I thought not. Is it because you suck?" Mikaela choked down her laugh, but it didn't go unnoticed by the tall blocker; he glared at her and she grinned at him sheepishly. "See, I'm a third year, and I've been to Nationals! So I'm better than you. Way better."

"Way better," Mikaela echoed, and Tsukishima glared at her again. Bokuto forged on, beginning to talk about line shots and cross shots and other things that made her heart ache for volleyball- a reoccurring feeling over the past few days. She listened to the Fukurodani ace speak with excitement about his various shots and his accomplishments, but it was what he finished with that really resonated with her.

"It's about whether you have your moment or you don't," he concluded, grinning. "Because if you do have that moment, that'll be what hooks you on volleyball."

She nearly sighed. _He's right._ Her thoughts immediately turned to the practice match that she had back in Junior High, when she'd debuted as an ambidextrous spiker when her setter had tossed the ball a bit too far off.

"Oi, Temper-san."

She whirled around, eyes widened with fury. "I'm sorry, _what_ did you call me?"

Kuroo and Bokuto had snagged Tsukishima, dragging him into practicing with them, and now the Nekoma captain was grinning at her. "You've stuck around long enough, you may as well block. We can see if this dumb owl can get past a triple block."

"You do realize I'm hardly a challenge," the dark-haired girl said through gritted teeth.

"Alright, then let's change that."

There was a heavy silence followed by an intense stare down between Kuroo and Mikaela. Eventually, the manager sighed and rolled her eyes.

"...Fine. On one condition."

"Sure."

"You never, ever, _ever_ call me that again."

"What, Temper-san?"

 _"Yes."_

"Sure then! C'mon, let's go, you're holding us up."

Mikaela could do nothing but sigh, slip her jacket off, and drop her bag by the gym wall. Looks like she wouldn't be going to bed early tonight.

* * *

 _The practice game went okay._

 _So did the one after that._

 _And the one after that._

 _Mikaela had been playing well every time, but she hadn't done anything flashy or extraordinary. Her serves were lacking- she was trying jump serves but her control was, well, not really there._

 _Kinomi, on the other hand, was working tirelessly to improve her serves. Extra practice after school, before school- any time she had. Mikaela matched her in terms of effort, but not results. The blonde's serves were getting better and better, and hers weren't really improving as much as she wanted them to._

 _"We're closing up the gym," their captain called, and Mikaela gritted her teeth. Dammit._

 _"Captain," she said quietly, when she was sure Kinomi was out of earshot, "do you know of anywhere I can practice after school? After you close the gym?"_

 _She frowned, putting her hands on her hips. "I admire your dedication, Mikaela. I think there's an older gym at the west end of the campus... it's not in use as often anymore because we've had a lot of newer ones built. I can check for you. Is that okay?"_

 _"That's amazing," Mikaela said excitedly. "Thank you so much, senpai."_

 _The next day after practice, the Niiyama captain approached her with a smile on her face and a key around her finger. "The gym's still available for use," she said, flashing her the key. "I got one of the keys so you can use it. I'm trusting you with this, okay? If anything happens, we'll both get in trouble. I wouldn't want you to get kicked off the team, either."_

 _The black-haired girl barely listened to the last half of her speech. "Thank you! Thank you so much, senpai," she said happily, beaming at the amount of trust she was given. "I won't let you down."_

 _She'd get extra practice now. This was what she wanted._

 _It was the third day since she'd got the key to the gym, and this marked the third time that she went there to practice. Her senpai was right: the gym was smaller, wooden, and very spacious on the inside._

 _Mikaela had to set everything up and take everything down herself, but it was worth it. One hundred percent worth it._

 _But then, everything went wrong._

 _She was so caught up in her serving that she nearly missed the squealing of the tires. But she never could've missed the huge crash as something large collided with the side of the gym wall. Mikaela nearly screamed._

 _The black-haired girl was frozen in place as there was a boom and the side wall went up in flames faster than she could blink._

 _The fire had a strange beauty to it; it was captivating but deadly. "Oh my god," Mikaela said to herself, her eyes wide and her hands gripping the volleyball in her hands like a lifeline. "Oh my god!"_

 _She had to get out of here. The gym was on fire._

 _The_ gym _was on_ fire!

 _Panicking, Mikaela stumbled over her own feet as she tried to force herself to move. Come on, the door was close, she could make it-_

 _There was a second boom and the wall broke apart by the sheer force of the explosion. Mikaela fell backwards, coughing and trying to make it back to her feet. Her vision was hazy and she was disoriented; she'd never felt so scared in her life. The danger was very real, but she was overwhelmed and she was panicking and she was shaking and she didn't know what to do-_

 _A section of the wall fell and nearly landed on her. "Shit!" she screamed, trying to get over her initial phase of panic and move again. She made it to her feet, turned towards the door, and bolted._

 _Pieces of the roof were falling down now. The old wooden beams were cracking and were now too weak to support the building. Smoke had filled the air. It was Mikaela's bad luck when a huge section of roof and wall collapsed in front of the door._

 _"No!" she cried out, skidding to a stop. The front door was in flames and sheltered behind fallen beams; there was no way she could get through there._

Back exit!

 _Mikaela turned and took off towards the other side of the gym, running faster than she ever had in her life. The building was coming down around her, but the door was still flames-free, and she could make it. Her vision was blurring- a haze of red and yellow._

 _There was a loud creak above her. Mikaela didn't have to look up to know that another part of the roof was coming down, but she looked up anyways- above where her only other exit was. She swallowed and pushed herself harder, hurdling over a fallen beam and feeling the flames touch her calves._

Almost there!

 _She could faintly hear police sirens. Was that someone screaming? But it was all ignored when the roof gave one final shudder and collapsed._

 _Mikaela dove._

 _There was a crack, and Mikaela screamed as something fell on the back of her leg._

 _The pain was so intense that she passed out, her hand outstretched for the door that was just a few inches too far away._

* * *

 **Next chapter's the chapter you've been waiting for ;)**

 **Sayori1412:** Thank you! Sorry about that XD I was going to combine this chapter with the last one but I kind of liked it better when they were split up. Mikaela met Ushijima once, after the finals of her junior high tournament. I'm hoping I can bring that up later at some point, but I'm not sure when just yet. Thank you as always for your kind review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far :)

 **I'm currently on my March break right now, and I'm updating this form the sunny beaches of Hawaii ;D Ugh I missed the sun so much.**

 **Anyways, thank you all for reading! Hope you're all looking forward to next chapter as much as I am :)**


	15. The Truth

**Thank you very much to Sayori1412, Shadow Wolf 15846, SumCheeze, deelel, S. yons, lays-pringles-piatos girl, azurerozu101, falling-skies-girl, thedarksun-writes, valancia, and denkioya for your support! Endlessly grateful for you all :)  
**

* * *

Tsukishima was very aware of two things:

One, their new manager was irksome and, generally, a pain in the ass.

Second, she was also the dumbest and most persistent person he'd ever met.

He knew from watching her and from whatever the hell happened yesterday that excessive physical activity wasn't good for her or her injury; yet here she was, participating in volleyball practice, offering to go and fetch tape or whatever it was, and doing anything she could to be active. Despite being so closed off about volleyball, she was doing anything she could to be near the sport.

Tsukishima just couldn't understand it.

He had seen how much it hurt her, how much pain she was in when her cramps or whatever it was kicked in. And from what he heard when she and Kageyama were talking, it was linked to how much physical activity she did.

So...

 _Why?!_

He glared at her as she lined up next to him. Why the hell would she put herself through so much pain for a sport? What did she have to gain from it?

It was just so _dumb._

Tsukishima pinched his lips together as he thought of Yamaguchi and their encounter just outside the gym, not even five minutes ago. Pride? What was so important about pride? Wanting to be the best, working hard to improve... That was one thing. But putting yourself through pain?

"What'd you want?" she snapped at him, and he blinked back to reality when he realized that he had been staring.

He smirked at her. "Just noticing how short you are."

"I'm not short!" Mikaela protested, glaring at him. "You're just way too tall." She glared at something behind him; Tsukishima turned and saw the Nekoma captain in line behind him. "Seriously, both of you. You're both ridiculously tall, how am I supposed to make a difference here?"

Kuroo tossed her a shit-eating grin. "We just liked bothering you."

Mikaela's face flushed. "You little-"

"Little?" Tsukishima teased, grinning. "You're the only short one here, Your Highness."

 _"I'm not short!"_

"Shorty," Kuroo and Bokuto said in unison, grinning at each other.

Mikaela huffed, shaking her head. "I hate all of you. So much." She shot Tsukishima a glare, then glanced at the other side of the net at the Fukurodani setter, Akaashi Keiji. "Except you, you're nice."

Akaashi raised an eyebrow. "Thank you."

"Set it for me, Akaashi!" Bokuto called, and the setter followed his command. Tsukishima waited until Bokuto was in the air before he jumped, raising his arms above his head. The ace hit the ball with enough force to blow straight through Mikaela's hand and hit the other side of the court. "Yeah!" he cheered.

Mikaela sighed. "Well, that went exactly as expected."

"Don't you know how to jump, Temper-san?" Kuroo said with a smirk. "Your feet barely left the ground."

"Shut up, Rooster."

"Yeah, I thought you were supposed to be good, Your Highness," Tsukishima taunted.

He watched her stiffen up. "I'm not good," she snapped, her voice icy, "I was just on the team in Junior High."

Tsukishima grinned. "That's not it."

Mikaela froze up. She was about to retort when Akaashi set the ball up for Bokuto again. This time, Bokuto tried a line shot, which Kuroo completely shut down. The Fukurodani ace got stuffed. The trio landed, and Kuroo immediately started to taunt the ace. Tsukishima rolled his eyes at their bantering. "You... You read that stupid article, didn't you," Mikaela said eventually, glaring at him.

The blond raised an eyebrow at her. "What, the article that called you one of the top rookies in the prefecture, gave you the nickname 'Demon', and talked about how you vanished into thin air?"

Tsukishima prepared himself for her fiery retort but was surprised when it didn't come. Instead, the manager bit her lip and sighed. "I haven't read it, but... Yeah, I guess that's the one."

"You have an awful lot of secrets," the middle blocker mused aloud.

Mikaela went quiet. "Yeah, I guess."

They continued their practice in relative peace, which was odd. Tsukishima had been expecting Mikaela to jump at him when he mentioned the article, but she almost did the opposite. She stopped rising to Kuroo's taunts, she stopped bothering Tsukishima, and she just kept jumping to block. Kuroo tried helping Tsukishima out, and she listened intently, but never vocalized her opinions.

It was weird. Even though she ceased bothering him, she was _still_ bothering him.

Tsukishima groaned. What a pain in the ass.

Eventually, he started picking up on the little things. She stopped jumping as high, she needed a bit longer between points to reset herself, and her face was red with exhaustion- which was weird, because what they were doing wasn't overly strenuous or exhilarating. Tsukishima noticed that Kuroo was beginning to pick up on these small things too. The Nekoma captain was definitely bright enough to realize that this was more than just being out of shape.

Bokuto blasted yet another spike over Mikaela's outstretched fingertips, and when they landed, the girl sighed. "Look, it's obvious I'm not good enough or tall enough to keep up with you lot. I'm just going to head out."

Tsukishima didn't miss how she was favouring one of her legs, leaning heavily on the other one. Her cheeks were red and she was stiff; she was hunched over and looked close to collapsing. "It's late," Tsukishima agreed, noticing how she raised an eyebrow at him. "See you all tomorrow." Kuroo and Bokuto looked at each other and shrugged, deciding that they'd tortured the pair long enough.

"Are you seriously walking with me?" Mikaela asked in disbelief, pulling her jacket on and grabbing her bag. "You don't have to."

"I'm not," Tsukishima scoffed, rolling his eyes, "you just happened to provide a good time for escaping from those hooligans."

"No, seriously," she hissed through her teeth as they both exited the gym. "Just... Give me a second."

The blond sighed as the fresh air hit his face. She was such a pain sometimes. "Look, I know it's your injury, you can stop trying to cover it up. It's annoying." Mikaela whipped around and glared at him, stumbling after him.

"Well, not everyone else knows, asshole," she grumbled, glancing over her shoulder.

"Are you going to have to take medication again?"

"No. It's not that bad right now."

Tsukishima hummed in response as the manager stumbled to catch up to him again. "You know," he said casually, glancing at her, "the team's not going to judge you for your injury- whatever the hell it is. They may be morons, but they won't care."

She snorted. "Yeah, right."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

They walked on in silence, turning a corner on the path. The dormitory buildings were just up ahead. Mikaela glanced back over her shoulder, ensuring that there was no one in sight, then leaned against the side of the building. "Go ahead. I just need to sit for a minute," she said, her voice strained. She pressed herself against the wall, sliding down until she was seated.

Tsukishima shrugged. "Okay."

He turned.

"...Wait."

He turned back. "Now what?"

"You... You said the team wouldn't be judgmental," she said slowly, biting her lip. The blond cocked his head, observing her. He'd seen her be quiet, he'd seen her be angry, and he'd seen her in pain- but this was the first time he saw her when she was nervous. "Does that include you?"

"Me?" Tsukishima was surprised. Of all people, she was concerned about him being the one to judge her? "I don't care."

Her face was still flushed, and she was looking down, which was weird, because from what Tsukishima knew of her, she glared at all her problems head on. "You already know, don't you," Mikaela said with a sigh.

The blond shrugged. "Not really. There's plenty of injuries that require medications. I don't know the specifics of what caused your cramps or whatever, but there's plenty of things. But I know it's a leg injury."

"Ah."

"And it must be pretty ugly, because you've always worn leggings or track pants and you've never shown your legs."

He was caught off-guard when she laughed. "Damn you, Tsukishima. Yeah, it's pretty ugly."

"Like the rest of you?" he couldn't resist adding.

"Even worse," the dark-haired girl joked, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. She stretched out her legs, wincing. "Even worse," she echoed, glancing down at her legs wistfully.

Tsukishima didn't know what to do. For the most part, he just wanted to leave and go to bed. He was tired, and he never intended to get dragged into that dumb practice anyways. But, as much as he hated to admit it, there was a tiny part of him that was genuinely curious as to whatever the hell her injury was. Not that he'd ever ask her, of course. If she wanted to tell him, she'd tell him. Or maybe she just thought he didn't want to hear it?...

No. He wasn't curious. There was that dumb saying- curiousity killed the cat. If she wanted to tell him, she could, but he wouldn't be asking. He didn't care.

Ugh. Girls were confusing.

He turned and was about to start walking again when something came to mind. He had something else he wanted to ask her after all.

"Hey, Mikaela."

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember what I asked Bokuto-san and Kuroo-san back in the gym?"

She paused, frowning up at him from where she sat. Because she was sitting, the height difference was even more prominent. Tsukishima had to refrain from making a joke. "About why they practice so hard for nothing?"

"Yeah, basically."

"Yeah, I remember. Why?"

"Why are you putting yourself through so much pain for volleyball?" he asked quietly, trying to figure out how to voice his irritation without ticking her off.

The black-haired girl shrugged. "Out of spite?"

Tsukishima surprised himself- he grinned and nearly laughed. "Seriously?"

She grinned back. "Yeah, seriously."

"I don't believe you."

"I'm not kidding. I was considering healing slowly and maybe joining a club when I was ready, but when I was in the hospital," she paused for moment, her lips pinched, before she continued, "my mother came to visit. She told me that she was glad that I'd never play volleyball again."

The blond frowned. "Really?"

"Really. So I told her, watch me."

"That's very..." he paused, searching for the right word. He smirked at her. "That sounds like something you'd say."

Mikaela laughed. "Yeah. But volleyball's also what connects me to Kageyama, you know? He's my best friend. Well, he was my only friend growing up, and volleyball was how we bonded as kids. It's what gotten me friends now, too."

"I'm surprised there's anyone willing to tolerate you as a friend besides your kingly cousin," Tsukishima said with a roll of his eyes.

She faltered. "Actually, I was... uh, I was including you in that," the dark-haired girl stammered, rubbing the back of his head.

The blond paused, raising his eyebrows at her. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Never mind," Mikaela said quickly, shaking her head. She leaned forward to touch her toes, evidently trying to move past the awkward topic, Tsukishima noticed. "Uh, you should go to bed. You'll be grumpier than usual if you don't."

"Says the one who can't go a minute without complaining about something," he retorted, replaying what she said in his head. _She considers me a friend. Seriously? What a dumbass. Why, of all people, would it be me?_ Something clicked in his head and Tsukishima snorted, putting the pieces together. "So the people you consider friends are the ones who know about your injury and don't shun you for it?"

She frowned. "No."

"Yes, that's exactly what it is," he pressed, trying not to completely glare at her. "You're just a coward."

"I'm not!" Mikaela snapped, but from the look in her eyes, she didn't entirely believe it.

"Yes, you are. You only open up to people when you realize that they aren't bothered by your injury or your horribly aggravating personality," Tsukishima continued. Now he was totally glaring at her. "Well, your Highness, I hate to break it to you, but no one cares about whatever injury it is you have."

"Shut up, Tsukishima," she scowled, crossing her arms. "You don't know anything."

He laughed dryly. "Maybe not, but I know that you're acting like a scared little girl. You're a coward, Mikaela."

"I'm not a-"

"You're constantly hiding," he said, cutting her off. "I bet your injury's why you left Niiyama, isn't it?" She didn't reply, which basically confirmed his answer. "You'd rather run away than confront your problems, and you just assume that people will see you differently when they know what the hell your injury is. Hate to burst your bubble, your Highness, but no one cares. If anything, people will care _more._ So if you could just-"

"I have a prosthetic."

A moment of silent passed, but it felt like a year.

"I have a prosthetic leg," Mikaela repeated, meeting his gaze. Tsukishima almost backed down when he realized there were tears sparking in her eyes. "I had my right leg amputated just below the knee about three and a half months ago, and I've worn a prosthetic from the past three months." In what seemed to be a flare of stubbornness, she grabbed the edge of her track pants on her right leg and tugged.

In place of her shin was a silver-plated machine that was acting as her lower leg. It looked like it could pass as a normal limb in terms of shape- it had relatively the same structure. But it was enough to make Tsukishima's stomach curl.

The blond couldn't think of anything to say.

How could he?

What could he say to that?

"Happy now, Tsukishima?" Mikaela said bitterly, sighing and leaning back again the wall. "Is that what you wanted to know?" She dropped her pant leg and it fell back down, covering the exposed metal.

He was confused; that was not the answer he was expecting. _A prosthetic. Holy crap._ Tsukishima thought for a moment before he walked towards the wall and sat down, about five feet away from her. Giving her space, but at the same time, trying to show her a little bit of support in his own way. He felt obligated to; she'd just told him something that was obviously private, and just walking away now would stain his conscience.

"How?" he asked quietly, awkward. What was he supposed to say?

"A fire," she said, tucking her knees into her chest. "I was practicing alone in one of the older gyms at the very edge of the Niiyama campus. All I can remember is the gym going up in flames and a beam from the ceiling falling on my leg."

Tsukishima tried to hide his wince, but if Mikaela noticed it, she didn't say anything. "I found out later that there had been a car accident. Someone had been texting and drifting into the other lane, and a truck had to swerve to avoid being hit dead on." She sighed, biting her lip. "The gym had been right next to that road. The truck swerved, couldn't regain control, and hit the side of the gym.

"I'm sure you can see where this is going," she said, her voice bitter and cold. "The truck had been carrying gasoline; it hit the building and the wall exploded in flames. I didn't make it out fast enough and my leg got crushed. Someone had called an ambulance, but I don't know what happened after that. I just woke up in the hospital and my leg was gone."

The blond was trying to calculate responses in his head. He'd been expecting a volleyball-related injury. This was just insane.

"They said that they tried to save my leg, but I had fourth degree burns and my fibula had snapped in two separate spots." Mikaela looked like she was going to be sick. "A few bones in my foot broke too. The muscles had practically melted. I was in too much pain, and they were worried about infection. But they thought that it could heal, give it years of rehab and hospitalization."

She seemed to choke on her words, but she forced them out. "M... My mother told them to chop it off."

"What?" Tsukishima said in surprise.

"She asked them for the route that would be the most beneficial for me, and healing on my own would've taken too long. So they cut my leg off."

"That's..." the blond didn't even have words to describe the complex of emotions that were flying through his head. What the hell kind of backstory was this?

Mikaela shrugged. "It gets better," she added sarcastically. "I should've been in the hospital until... well, about now. But she pulled me out early because she wanted to get me back to school as soon as she could." The dark-haired girl shook her head. "I think that's why my leg cramps are so bad. I have to rely a lot more on the muscles in my other leg, and I did a lot of physio stuff, but it still didn't spend long enough getting used to it."

"What the hell?" Tsukishima finally said, his voice faint. "How can your mother-"

She shook her head, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I don't even know. She has this dumb plan for me and what she wants me to do, and being hospitalized threw a wrench into that." Mikaela sighed shakily. "She's got more money than she knows what to do with, but you couldn't tell by looking at her. She pays off people that don't agree with her, and she's an expert in blackmail. It's ridiculous."

"Huh."

There was a heavy silence. Tsukishima's head was reeling- what the actual _hell?_ He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so... overwhelmed with information.

It must've shown on his face, because Mikaela glanced up at him and immediately glanced back at her feet as she said, "sorry. You probably don't care." Tsukishima couldn't help but notice that her eyes were red and she was dangerously close to tears, judging by the way she was grabbing her own arm so hard it looked like she would cut off circulation and blinking rapidly.

Shit, he could totally _not_ deal with tears. Nope, no way.

"Well..." Tsukishima literally had no idea what to do or say. He had just insulted her, calling her a coward, and now he knew that wasn't the case. "So, that's why you left Niiyama then."

"Yeah, sort of. That was the one thing that my mom and I agreed on- a new start, somewhere else."

He hummed. "Ignore what I said earlier."

Mikaela frowned at him. "What?"

"About you being a coward. That was..." the blond thought for a moment. "That was ill-timed and untrue."

"Thank you," she said softly, "but you're not entirely wrong."

He shrugged. "Depends on how you look at it."

"True," she agreed, and to Tsukishima's relief, she no longer looked like she was about to completely break down. "I wouldn't consider myself a coward in most things, but I can't stand up to my mom. I can't open up to people. I'm way too scared of a bunch of things, but maybe not what you thought I was scared of."

"So why don't you tell the team?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it obvious?"

He smirked. "No offense, your Highness, but you told _me._ I'm probably the last person you'd want to be telling this to. Anyone on the team would be better than me."

"No, actually, it's the opposite." When Tsukishima frowned at her, she continued. "I don't want to be treated like a glass doll. I'm not fragile, I'm not breakable, I'm not going to collapse randomly- oh, don't glare at me like that, it wasn't random- and I guess I just don't want the team to see me differently. I don't want their opinions of me to change just because they know I'm injured."

She turned to him, offering him a bitter smile. "I think you're the best person to tell," Mikaela said softly, "because you don't care. You're not going to treat me any differently- if anything, you'll just tease me more. But that's fine in my books."

Tsukishima just nodded slowly. The silence that followed was considerably less tense than it was earlier.

Eventually, the manager sighed, and pushed herself to her feet. "Sorry for telling you all of this. I guess it was just nice to rant."

He didn't reply.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Tsukishima," she said softly, glancing at him once last time before she swung her backpack over her shoulder and started walking in the direction of their dorms. The blond said nothing- he didn't even watch her leave.

Instead, he stared up at the sky, trying to make sense of whatever he was feeling. He wasn't used to trying to sort through this much emotion at once. There was pity, yes- the chances of an accident like that happening were slim to none. There was annoyance, sure- she'd just dumped all this information on him and left. There was frustration, there was confusion, and there was even the tiniest bit of sympathy.

But there was also the smallest sense of admiration- for how much she'd dealt with and how she could still walk away with her head high.

Tsukishima sighed.

 _Well, now what?_

* * *

 _Mikaela had hoped- foolishly- that her parents would maybe put aside their differences while she was in the hospital. That they'd stop arguing._

 _She was stupid to think that her parents wouldn't argue. In fact, they seemed to argue more- there was her mother, who wanted to get her on a prosthetic and out of the hospital as soon as she could walk, and her father, who wanted her to take her time getting used to a fake limb. Her mother won the argument, just like she always won any other argument._

 _There was a lot of difficulty choosing a prosthetic for her._

 _Her mother wanted a functional one, one that would look just like any other leg. Something that would blend in easily and that nobody would be able to tell that she was missing her lower leg._

 _Her father wanted her to have an athlete's prosthetic. Something suited to sports, something she could run with and train with and would allow her to get right back into sports when she was all set to go._

 _She wanted a mix of both. She certainly didn't want to advertise the loss of her leg, but she still wanted something that could allow her to be active._

 _So they came to a compromise._

 _Her mother put in a lot of money, but they got what they wanted. A modified transtibial prosthetic that attached below her knee. It had an advanced foot-to-ankle assembly, which was flexible and allowed her 'ankle' to bend naturally, plus what they called a 'flex-foot' adaptation that would allow her to run and jump. It also had a shiny silver covering that Mikaela could clip on and off as she wished. It worked well- when she rolled on leggings over top of the prosthetic, you couldn't even tell the difference between her two legs. She received her prosthetic on the second day of May._

 _It had been expensive, but nothing her mother couldn't handle._

 _Learning to walk on it was another story._

 _She'd been expecting it to be easy- no way in hell. They put her in a training room, standing on her good leg between two solid silver bars that ran parallel to the floor. Her prosthetic was fitted and ready to go, so she'd stepped and tried to put weight on it, and she nearly collapsed. It hurt, it hurt like hell, and trying to put all of her weight on one leg felt like she was going to need another amputation._

 _There was no more calf muscles in her right leg to rely on. Moving the prosthetic was hard, and required much more work. For the first week, she didn't even make it to the end of the bars. She had to take frequent breaks, because her legs_ burned _and were cramping beyond belief._

 _On day nine, she made it to the end of the bars._

 _Sure, it was shaky, and her legs were shaking in pain, but she announced, "did you see that? I fucking did it," and promptly collapsed._

 _By day twelve, the walking was considerably less shaky and a lot more natural. By day seventeen, she almost couldn't tell that she had a prosthetic. She no longer needed the bars to walk. She practiced as often as she could, making sure not to ruin her progress or strain herself._

 _Jogging was considerably more difficult, but it was manageable._

 _Jumping was ridiculously energy-draining._

 _Running was out of the question._

 _But she could move. She could walk without crutches, and she didn't need a wheelchair. That was all her mother needed to see._

 _So on day thirty-one, the fourth of June, her mother pulled her out of the hospital and sent her to school. She'd tried to avoid walking without a limp, but it was difficult- besides, no one would notice, right?_

 _"My name's Yachi Hitoka," the blonde girl that was supposed to be her guide chirped cheerfully. "Nice to meet you!"_

 _This was it._

 _Her new start._

 _She smiled. "I'm Mikaela Kaisha."  
_

 _What a year it would be._

* * *

 **So... What'd you think? I know it's a lot of information at once. Not to mention that I'll probably throw a few more tidbits in here and there ;)**

 **It's reeeeeeally hard to try not to rush things, but I'm trying my best. Tsukishima is someone that Mikaela is slowly starting to trust more and more, and hopefully I get to highlight their friendship more in future chapters. If I do decide to make them a pairing, it won't be for a while. So much more development is required. Ugh.**

 **Sayori1412:** Aha, you don't have to write it if you don't want to XD I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations! Next one for sure you'll see someone ask her about something from the magazine :) I hope you know I'm very thankful for your reviews! Thank you so much! :D

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** The rest of the team will find out soon... Before chapter 20, I'd say, but I don't have it set in stone. Thank you very much for your review! :D

 **SumCheeze:** You're so sweet! I'm so glad that you're enjoying it! Yeah, when I was thinking about possible pairings, the only one that really worked for me was Tsukishima. No one else seemed to be a good fit, I guess. I hope the full explanation this chapter helped you out a bit :) Thank you so so much for your review! :D

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated and are wonderfully motivational :) Thank you all!**


	16. The 'South Paw'

**Thank you to katedemasi3, PenguinOtaku, BookwormRuthie, Monxu Aki, manga. geek. 3, starwomanwaitinginthesky, Laika fic, Amarylis Potter, Shiyuki791, Mar91, Artist Magician, Lunar63, Anime no Akuma, Shadow Wolf 15846, and Sayori1412 for your wonderful support :)**

* * *

Mikaela wiped at her eyes before she threw herself down onto the sleeping mat and was surprised when her hands came away damp. She was crying.

She blinked rapidly, trying to force the tears away. Oddly enough, she hadn't even felt them. She let out a shaky breath, trying to wrap her mind around everything that had just happened. She had just told _Tsukishima,_ of all people, the biggest secret she had. Mikaela wasn't sure whether she felt relieved or upset.

Maybe she shouldn't have said anything.

Would Tsukishima tell anyone?

She knew she'd second-guess herself for a while. She'd started doing that a lot more since her accident. Mikaela shook her head. She didn't think the blond would tell anyone; it wasn't very like him. If anything, he'd bring it up subtly while making fun of her, which would lead people to asking questions. She groaned; she may as well just tell the entire team. What was the point of hiding it?

Mikaela didn't fall asleep for hours. And when she finally did, it wasn't peaceful.

* * *

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (2:29):** I told Tsukishima._

 _ **Kageyama Tobio (5:58):** All of it?_

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (6:43):** Just about, yeah._

 _ **Kageyama Tobio (6:45):** Huh_

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (6:50):** Kill me now_

* * *

Despite the fact that Mikaela's world had crashed and burned the previous night, everything seemed to be fine the next day. Odd.

Tsukishima, if anything, avoided her more than usual. She'd offered him a water bottle and he'd taken it without even glancing at her. She'd found herself looking at him for often that she should, because she was worried for what he might say or do, but she was disappointed. Tsukishima said nothing and did nothing.

The scheduled practice games were finished, and everyone was breaking into groups to do extra practice. "Hey hey hey!" someone called, and Mikaela didn't even have to turn around to know that it was Bokuto from Fukurodani. "Four-Eyes! Want to practice blocking for me?"

The blond hesitated for a few seconds, then he bowed. "Sure. Thanks for having me."

"Wha?!" Bokuto cried out in surprise.

Akaashi rolled his eyes. "Why are you surprised? You're the one who asked."

Mikaela was surprised too. Tsukishima strolled off to go practice with Bokuto at a different net, and the black-haired girl turned to Yamaguchi. "What'd you say to him yesterday?" she said, confused. "He seems more..."

"More what?" Yamaguchi asked, his eyes trailing after his best friend.

"More... cooperative, I guess," she said with a shrug.

Yamaguchi returned her shrug with one of his own. "I don't know, really. I was just frustrated that he wasn't putting his all into practice, and I... Well, I told him that the only reason he really needed was pride."

Mikaela nodded along, thinking. "I agree," she said, smiling. "Pride and spite."

He laughed, picking up a volleyball from the ground. "I guess you weren't there, but... Have you heard anything about our match against Aoba Johsai in the Interhigh?"

"Yeah, bits and pieces," she said, raising one shoulder in a half-shrug of sorts. "All I know is that you guys lost, but only barely."

Yamaguchi winced, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah. It was pretty bad. I went on once as a pinch server, and my serve hit the net and fell." Mikaela winced, imagining the scene in her head. "I've been practicing like crazy since then, because I want another chance to make up for that. I guess it just bothered me that everyone else was working so hard and Tsukki was just tagging along for the ride."

She hummed in agreement, nodding along. "I get it."

"Not like I have anything against Tsukki," Yamaguchi defended immediately, waving his free hand in front of his face. "He's the best, he's-"

"I get it, Yams," Mikaela said with a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder. "Yeah, he's a bit of a prick, but he cares in his own way. Maybe it's the same thing now- he wants to train in his own way, I guess."

The pinch server nodded, smiling. "Yeah. He is." His voice sounded distant, like he was speaking of something from the past.

Mikaela grinned, grabbing a volleyball from the floor. Something clicked in her head. "Can I call you that? Yams?"

"Sure!" the boy grinned, his freckles popping out against his flushed cheeks. "Do you want a nickname?"

"If you think of one, go for it," the black-haired girl replied. "But not Mika."

Yamaguchi brushed off the odd request, his smile widening. "Thanks, Mikaela! Thanks for talking to me!"

"Anytime!" She waved at him as he took off, volleyball in hand, to one of the free courts to work on his serve. She sighed, happy. Yamaguchi was such a sweet guy, and she wanted to make friends with him. Maybe there was a tiny part of her that wanted to make friends to prove Tsukishima wrong- that she didn't just befriend people who knew about her injury. She shook her head.

Mikaela was almost done packing up most of the volleyball equipment from the day when she heard someone calling her name. "Mikaela! _Mikaela!_ Over here!"

She turned to see the libero's enthusiastic grin. "Hey, Nishinoya-senpai," she called. "What's up?"

"Can you spike to me?"

The black-haired girl cocked her head, confused. "Nishinoya, you literally have dozens of other people in here who are actual volleyball players. Why don't you ask one of them?"

Nishinoya huffed. "Because I want to practice receiving left-hand spikes! The south paw stuff!"

"Left? Left-hand?"

"Yeah," he said, nodding.

"Who told you I was a lefty?"

The libero paused, and Mikaela watched the realization finally settle in. Nishinoya's face went several sheets paler. Panic exploded behind his eyes as the short boy started to realize that her ambidextrous ability had only been mentioned in that magazine article, not by the manager herself. Kageyama had texted her; Mikaela knew that the whole team knew by now. She heard someone from behind her whisper, "he's a dead man now."

"Uh," Nishinoya managed, his face growing paler by the second, "gah, well, uh..." He turned to Tanaka, who shook his head and said something along the lines of every man for themselves.

"Sure, I'll help you."

"...Eh?"

Behind him, the rest of the Karasuno team seemed equally surprised that Mikaela hadn't torn Nishinoya's head off his body, but instead had actually _agreed_ to practicing with the libero. "Was it that stupid article?" she asked. All Nishinoya could do was nod dumbly. "Ah, thought so. Don't believe everything you read," she joked dryly.

"But you're a lefty," Nishinoya repeated for clarification.

"Ambidextrous," she corrected, "but yeah."

Nishinoya nodded, recovering from the fact that she hadn't attacked him (yet) and grabbing a volleyball. "C'mon, then! No sense wasting time!"

And so the libero sprinted over to an empty court and Mikaela followed, tossing her jacket to the side and pretending to ignore the stares that the rest of the Karasuno team sent her way. Had they expected her to become defensive? To blow up? She sighed. Understandable, considering her initial reaction to anything about volleyball. But Kageyama had warned her, and she couldn't go her career as a manager ignoring the elephant in the room. They all knew; she couldn't try to hide it.

She stood on a wooden block that the coaches would use so they were above the net. The black-haired girl tossed a ball up and spiked it with her left hand.

Nishinoya received it dead on, and still the ball went flying to the other side of the gym. "Wow!" he cried out. "You've got some power!"

"Th- Thanks," she stammered, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "I've been off for a while now, though, so I'm not as strong as I used to be."

"Again," he demanded, and Mikaela spiked it again. Once more, the ball spun off Nishinoya's arms and nearly hit Sugawara as he was passing by. "Ugh, I hate you leftys," the libero grumbled. His eyes widened when he realized what he said. "No, I don't hate you! I just hate that you're a lefty! You're amazing!"

Mikaela grinned, nearly laughing. "I get that a lot." _More like, I used to get that a lot._ "Don't sweat it."

"Hey, Mikaela-san, can we join?" Sugawara, who was holding the volleyball that had rebounded off Nishinoya's arms just a moment before. Daichi stood behind him with his arms crossed. Both of them had matching looks of curiousity on their faces.

Her mouth dried. "Uh, sure, if you want."

"Thank you," the vice captain said, staring at her, and Mikaela realized that there was a lot more meaning behind his words of gratitude that he was letting on. He was thanking her for... not only for letting them practice with her, but for not blowing up at them. For using her talents to help them rather than becoming more sheltered.

She beamed. "No, thank _you_ ," she emphasized, trying to tell him silently that she was thankful for the understanding and the lack of questioning.

"What're you thanking him for?" Nishinoya demanded, stomping his foot repeatedly. "Spike another one!"

"Sure," she agreed, smiling softly at the vice captain. He grinned back at her, settling in line behind Nishinoya. Before she knew it, she had a line of about eleven people behind Nishinoya, all who wanted to practice receiving left-handed spikes. Tanaka and Asahi quickly jumped in line, and Yamaguchi was quick to follow. The trio, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, and Narita (she finally learned their names) followed soon after. Hinata had jumped in, declaring "I'm going to receive Ushiwaka's spikes so well that he'll tremble before me!" and Kageyama had followed suit, mostly to support Mikaela (she smiled at him gratefully) but also to practice.

Needless to say, they were all absolutely horrible. Even Nishinoya and Daichi, the best receivers on the team, couldn't manage it the first time around.

And then Kageyama did it _perfectly,_ and the team lost it.

"How are you so good at _everything?!"_ Nishinoya complained loudly, fueled by the encouragement from Tanaka. "Even left-hand receives!"

"Yeah," his partner in crime agreed, jabbing a finger at his underclassman aggressively. "Stop it!"

Kageyama cocked his head, confused. "I grew up with her. I've been practicing this for years."

The troublesome duo didn't like that answer, and proceeded to 'aggressively interrogate' Kageyama (which was actually just a lot of shouting and attempted tackling) and Daichi went to go break it up. Mikaela, laughing to herself, continued through the line. They were slowly getting better at it- the ball was going more vertical and less horizontal- and Nishinoya, after about three hits, had them spot on.

Mikaela nearly gave up when Kuroo rotated to the front of the line. "Excuse me, why are _you_ here?"

"How rude, Temper-san," he mocked. "I want practice, just like the rest of them."

"I told you not to call me that!" she said with a scowl.

He rolled his eyes. "Just spike it already."

A devilish glint appeared in her eye. "Oh, I will," Mikaela said with a grin that resembled a shark. She tossed the ball up with her right, and whipped her left hand out to strike it as hard as she could.

The ball hit Kuroo's arms and rebounded away, nearly colliding with Shimizu as she walked by. Mikaela shot a quick apology at her, but her senior smiled knowingly and walked away. "Oi, you did that on purpose!" he protested, glaring at her.

"Duh. Next." The Nekoma Captain scowled at her, and Mikaela resisted the urge to face-palm when she saw Bokuto come up in line. "Oh, not you too. I thought you were practicing with Tsukishima."

"This is good practice!" the Fukurodani ace cheered loudly, his eyes flashing with mischief.

At this point, the line had built to about two dozen- no, maybe three dozen- people. She didn't even recognize half of the people who were waiting to receive a left-hand spike. Mikaela wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep- her shoulders were aching. But still, she hadn't felt this exhilarated in a while. This was fun.

"Oi, we're the ones with Ushijima in our prefecture," Daichi called, crossing his arms. "Go away to your own practice."

"We're allowed to work with each other!" Bokuto protested.

"There's more leftys than just Ushijima, you know."

"Besides, what happens when he makes it to Nationals?"

"Oi, Karasuno's going to Nationals this year for sure!"

"Well-"

"Time out!" Mikaela called, creating a 'T' with her hand. The thirty something people that were gathered in front of her all turned to stare at her, which made her blush from the attention. "I"m going to bed."

She hopped off the wooden block, leaving no room for discussion, and the crowd dispersed. Kageyama smirked at her and waved before he went to work on the quick set with Hinata, and she grinned back at him.

Mikaela had just grabbed her bag and was heading out the door when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Wait."

"What?" she said sharply before she realized it was just the captain.

"Thank you, Mikaela," he said softly, smiling at her. "For today."

She shrugged, flushing. "Y- yeah. No problem."

"If you ever want to talk to us, you're more than welcome," Daichi added, letting his hand fall to his side.

"Okay. Thank you, Daichi-san."

He let her go, and Mikaela went back to her room to sleep. This time, she was significantly happier than she was before.

* * *

 _"So, how was the first day of school, pro?"_

 _Mikaela sighed, tucking her hands in her coat pockets. "It sucked."_

 _Her father laughed, leaning back against the seat in the car. "Oh, come on, kiddo. How was it really?"_

 _"It sucked!" she protested. "I got lost three times trying to get to classes, I haven't talked to anyone except that nice girl who was my guide, Yachi I think, and my leg hurts."_

 _She probably shouldn't have mentioned the last part. Her father pursed his lips and sighed, slowing down to stop in front of a traffic light. "I shouldn't have let your mother take you out of the hospital so soon."_

 _"Relax, Dad," Mikaela reassured him, rolling down the window in the small vehicle. "I'll get used to it. It's best I don't miss too much school anyways."_

 _He grumbled something under his breath and turned down another street. "That's your mother talking, right there."_

 _They stayed in silence for the next few minutes, until Mikaela frowned as they passed one of the street signs she recognized. "Hey, Dad. Did you miss the turn?"_

 _"Nope," her father said briskly. "Pro, I'm taking you out for ice cream and there's nothing you can do about it."_

 _"Oh, no," Mikaela said dramatically, sinking into her seat, "how will I survive?"_

 _He grinned at her dramatics. "Ya know, pro, this is the only time I can drive you home. I just wanted to see you one last time before..." he trailed off, but Mikaela knew what he was talking about. She was living with her mother from here on out, and her father would be working around the clock._

 _"I appreciate it, Dad," the dark-haired girl said, smiling. "I'll miss you."_

 _"I'll miss you too, kiddo."_

 _"So... Ice cream?"_

 _"I bet I can eat more than you."_

 _"Oh, you're on!"_

 _They both ordered their favourite monster cones, and told the lady behind to counter to pick out the flavours herself. Mikaela ended up losing- only because, in the tall five-scoop cones that they had both requested, she ended up getting a mint chocolate chip scoop, which she didn't like. Her father laughed through her dismay as she struggled to finish the minty scoop while he plowed through the next scoop on his towering cone- rocky road._

 _Yeah. Rocky road indeed._

* * *

 **Thank you so much for 109 follows and 63 favourites! I'm so overjoyed and so humbled that you all enjoy this story, thank you so much :D**

 **Sayori1412:** Oh, yeah. And her mother only gets worse from here ;) I'm glad you liked how the conversation played out! It's always difficult when it comes to Tsukishima. I'm glad you think my fanfiction is worth reviewing, that makes me so happy. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Her mother's a whole different level of 'control freak'. I've got some plans for her and Mikaela, plus something big that'll finally hit home to her mother and make her realize that what she's doing probably isn't best. Not sure when that moment will come yet. As for pairings, I'm considering Tsukishima, but it's a long road to that and he's difficult to write XD So we'll have to see. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I'll see you next week! :)**


	17. The Last Practice Game

**Thank you to dolpene, blueerimartian, maadihuunter, vitulari, sakurachi28, snowlikestardust, jungkookies, Sayori1412, Shadow Wolf 15846, Guest, jonica77, Watermist of Windclan, and manga. geek. 3 for your love and support! :)**

* * *

 **Mild swearing / cursing ahead :)**

* * *

The training camp seemed to blur by. Karasuno lost match after match, but the score was getting closer and closer every game. No one questioned Mikaela about that stupid article yet, and she was just waiting for the second shoe to drop. Sooner or later, someone would say something or ask questions. Until then? She'd enjoy not addressing the elephant in the room.

It was the fifth evening of camp when Mikaela was running around, doing errands for her coaches and some of the other players: carrying messages, putting away equipment, gathering forgotten water bottles. The week had been both mentally and physically exhausting, but Mikaela would've given anything to stay an extra week. She really wasn't up to going home to her mom.

Besides, she hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

"Hey, Tsukishima," she called as she passed by the far gym, the usual practice spot for Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kuroo. Tsukishima had started joining them there to practice more and more frequently, and whenever she passed by, they seemed to be doing two-on-two matches. "You should learn a delayed spike. You know, the thing where you wait until the blockers are in the air to actually jump yourself. It messes everyone up."

There was a pause on the court. The blond raised an eyebrow at her. "Where's this coming from?"

She shrugged. "Just an idea I had."

"Why should I bother?"

"Because it's an asshole move, and no one better to do it than the king asshole himself."

The black-haired girl ran from the gym before Tsukishima could throw something at her.

Overall, nothing had really changed in her friendship with Tsukishima since she told him about her prosthetic. They'd completely gone back to 'normal' (if you could call it that) and the weight that had been breaking Mikaela's shoulders felt like it was lessening. He hadn't spoken a word to her about it yet, and she certainly wasn't going to bring it up.

She had no sooner left the gym when she was tackled by Hinata, who hadn't noticed her coming around the corner. "Oof! I'm so sorry, Mikaela!" he squeaked, trying to steady himself.

"Where're you off to, Hinata?" she asked, secretly pleased by the fact he hadn't put any honorifics on her name.

His face twisted into a pout. "Bakayama's practicing alone again, and Kenma ran away after five sets. I heard that Tsukishima was with the Fukurodani ace around here and I wanted to come check it out."

Mikaela shrugged. "Yeah, I just left."

"Why'd you leave?"

"Tsukishima was debating throwing something at me," she said dryly, rubbing the back of her head, "and I didn't want to stick around for when he made up his mind."

His eyes widened. "Why don't you come practice with us?"

The black-haired girl's eye twitched in irritation. "Did you not hear a word I just said?"

"It's just Tsukishima," Hinata said, waving her off, "he's mean and a huge jerk but you can just be mean right back." Before Mikaela had time to face-palm at the horrible logic that Hinata had thrown into his argument, he added, "besides, you like to play, don't you?"

She hesitated before answering. "Yes," she admitted. No sense hiding it, right?

"So come play."

"I can't."

"Why?"

Mikaela opened her mouth and closed it again, gears turning in her brain as she tried to figure out what kind of excuses she could come up with. "Well..." she trailed off. "I just... Well, you see..." Mikaela groaned through her teeth and raked a hand through her hair, frustrated. "I can't," she concluded pathetically.

Hinata cocked his head, clearing not understanding what she was trying to say. Hell, she didn't know either. "You can't, or you won't?"

"I can't," she insisted. "I'm..."

He waited.

"...injured."

The orange-haired boy's jaw slipped open. "Wait, what?!"

"Yes, now shut up," the manager hissed, glancing behind Hinata to see if anyone had overheard. "It's not... public knowledge."

"Wait, you're actually..." Hinata trailed off. He couldn't seem to process what she was saying.

"You're injured?"

Mikaela swiveled around so fast that she thought she might tear something in her neck. Kuroo was standing behind her, his arms crossed. To her surprise, she didn't see his typical smirk that he usually wore- he looked genuinely surprised. It looked like he had just come out of the gym.

"You were eavesdropping?" she asked, furious. "What the hell, Kuroo?"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I heard a commotion outside and wanted to check it out."

"Yo, Kuroo, what's going on?" Bokuto's voice rang loud and clear from the gym.

"Nothing, bro, be there in a second," the Nekoma captain called back. He turned back to the Karasuno manager. "Honestly, I didn't mean to overhear. Sorry. Besides, I kinda picked that much up after practice a few nights ago."

Mikaela groaned, rolling her eyes. "Great. Whatever. It doesn't even matter, anyways. Just forget I said anything."

"Wait, Mikaela," Hinata asked, jumping back into the conversation, "is that why you don't play volleyball?"

"Yes," she said through gritted teeth.

"So when will you get back to playing?" he asked. Mikaela didn't answer, so the orange-haired ball of energy rephrased his question. "I mean, when will your injury be healed enough so that you can play?" Kuroo raised an eyebrow at her, waiting for an answer.

She sighed, all of her resistance fading out of her. "It won't."

"It won't what?"

"It won't heal," she clarified, turning to stare Hinata in the eye. "It's permanent."

Kuroo's eyes widened. "What the hell did you do?"

"That's none of your-"

"Kuroo! Ah, Mikaela, hey. Hinata!" Bokuto peered his head out of the gym, his owl-like eyes scanning the surroundings and the three people locked in what appeared to be a heated conversation. "What's taking you guys so long?"

Mikaela shot Kuroo her best 'if-you-say-anything-I-will-tear-your-eyes-out' stare. Kuroo pursed his lips. "Nothing. Shrimpy over here just bumped into Temper-san, and she's squabbling about it."

The manager glanced behind her, back at Hinata. The orange-haired boy was still gaping at her, and she bit her lip. Mikaela prayed that he'd pretend this conversation never happened. Hinata nodded at her quickly before turning to Bokuto. "Can I join you?"

She breathed a sigh of relief as Bokuto took their excuse in stride. "Sure! Kuroo, a tall kid from your team just popped in here."

"Lev? How did that happen?" Kuroo sighed, rolling his eyes as Hinata bounded past him, slipping into the gym. "Did Yaku let him go?"

Bokuto shrugged. "No idea, bro."

"Never mind, we can do a three on three or something," he amended. Then he remembered Mikaela. "Hey, M-"

He turned around. She was already gone.

* * *

The last day of training camp finally arrived, and despite her exhaustion, Mikaela didn't want to go home. No matter how much the boys lost, or how much her leg was bothering her. She'd been watching Karasuno's game with keen eyes, looking for anything and everything that she could get her hands on, and watching the boys lose repeatedly was frustrating. They were getting better, admittedly, and she was looking forward to seeing all their plays come together.

The whistle blew, signifying the end of Karasuno's game against Ubugawa. It had been close; they'd only lost by two points in the very end. "One lap of diving digs," Daichi said with a weirdly dignified tone. It seemed like Karasuno almost _enjoyed_ their penalty drills... Well, maybe 'enjoy' wasn't the right word. But something similar. Mikaela suspected that they had just gotten used to them by now.

Their last game of camp was against Fukurodani, and Mikaela was looking forward to it. She loved watching Bokuto play; his behavior was contagious.

When she tried to get a hold on Kageyama before the game started, she noticed that he had a dazed look in his eyes and was drooling. "What's wrong with you?" she said with a laugh, waving her hand in front of his eyes.

His head snapped up, nearly making her flinch back. "Apparently we're having a barbecue for lunch."

"A barbecue?" Mikaela asked, raising her eyebrows. "Are you sure?" He nodded, turning to join his teammates at the bench, and the black-haired girl started to imagine grilled meat, smoking from the heart of the barbecue, tasting so good-

 _Ugh. I'm starving, suddenly._

Mikaela could see why they were so pumped up. Nothing like food for a good motivator.

The team lined up, then got into position on the court. Mikaela moved to stand next to Shimizu, trying to help her out with stat keeping. "How's everyone's new stuff coming along?" she asked, keeping half an eye on the court. "I've only really been seeing Tsukishima and Kageyama's progress. Hinata's too."

In response to her question, Asahi whipped out a wicked jump serve that caused Fukurodani to have a messy pass. "Does that answer part of your question?" Shimizu asked with a grin, watching the setter put the ball up for Bokuto. "They've all been working hard."

The back-haired girl smirked to herself as she watched Tsukishima tug on Kageyama's sleeve, motioning to cut off the line shot. Unfortunately, it was a block out, and Fukurodani took the first point. "They have," she agreed, her eyes trailing on Tsukishima for a half second too long before she dragged them back to the stat sheet.

Fukurodani's server accidentally sent the ball into the net, and now it was Tsukishima's serve. Bokuto spiked it past Hinata and Kageyama's outstretched arms, securing another point. _Bokuto really does grab a lot of his team's points,_ Mikaela mused to herself, flipping through past statistics sheets. The other team served, Nishinoya received, and Kageyama set the ball up for Hinata- in first tempo. Not their quick set.

The only ones more surprised than Fukurodani were Karasuno themselves when Hinata tipped the ball gently over the blockers' fingers. "He tipped it," Mikaela said in disbelief.

"When'd he learn how to do that?" Shimizu asked as Hinata got hounded by his teammates.

Mikaela smirked, glancing at the Fukurodani team, who were all glaring at a very sheepish Bokuto. "My guess is that Bokuto taught him how," she said thoughtfully. "Hinata's been spending a lot of time with him, and right now, Bokuto's team doesn't look overly pleased with him."

Shimizu raised her eyebrows. "True."

The score continued to increase, slowly but surely. Shimizu kept giving Mikaela amused looks (apparently, she was murmuring to herself as players moved on the court: things like "cross" before the spike happened or "short serve" or "wow, that was rough"). The score climbed to 8 - 5 when Bokuto ran up from the back court and managed to hit a ridiculously sharp cross shot. "Damn," the black-haired girl said under her breath.

Sugawara, who was standing on the other side of Shimizu, glanced at the Fukurodani ace in awe. "Wow, that was a crazy cut shot."

"Hitting the ball on an angle sharp enough to go inside the triple block is difficult," she said, turning to Mikaela. "If you don't have a limber enough shoulder joint, you could hurt yourself."

Mikaela raised an eyebrow at her. "I know."

There was an awkward pause before Shimizu bowed and apologized, "I'm sorry, I forgot that you're a high-level player."

"No, my bad," the black-haired girl said quickly, starting to realize how snappish she sounded, "I didn't mean to be rude."

"Still, I should've realized-"

"No, that was really rude of me, you have nothing to apologize for," Mikaela dismissed quickly, not wishing to dampen her friendship with the older manager. "Besides, you were just trying to help."

They both turned back to the game, the awkward silence hanging over Mikaela like someone was dangling a brick above her head. "Kageyama's in good form today, isn't he?" Sugawara said suddenly, trying to break the tension.

"Yep," Mikaela agreed as her cousin did a perfect setter dump that caught the other team completely off guard.

"There's a weird atmosphere around him," Shimizu said softly. "Like the calm before a storm."

Mikaela nodded along, watching as the next rally stretched on. A Fukurodani player tipped the ball over the block, but Daichi lunged forwards and saved it. Kageyama set the ball up for Hinata, but it was saved by the other team and sent straight back up again. Kageyama swiveled, and Mikaela briefly caught the look in his eye; he was debating something in his head.

As soon as she saw Hinata charge up to the net before Kageyama even got under the ball, she knew what he was thinking about. Clearly, Hinata had the same idea. Their new quick set.

"Do it," she hissed through her teeth. She raised her voice. "Kags! Do it!"

Kageyama's midnight blue eyes met her for an instant before they flashed back to the ball. She watched him set the ball with the exact precision that he had been training to achieve for the past few weeks. Hinata's arm moved forward to strike the volleyball, which seemed to stop just under his palm before he swung.

The ball hit the court with a thwack that echoed across the gym. A moment of silence followed.

"Yes!" Mikaela cried aloud, pumping a fist in the air.

Kageyama and Hinata both looked at each other and practically _screamed._ "Warn me next time you're gonna do something like that, runt!" the setter snapped, seizing the front of Hinata's shirt.

"But it really felt like it'd work just then!" Hinata protested, his eyes wide with excitement. "Didn't it? Tell me it didn't feel like it'd work!"

"That was so fast," Shimizu said in awe.

Mikaela grinned to herself, resisting the urge to charge onto the court and grab Kageyama in a hug. His hard work had paid off; the quick set worked just as well as he had planned. Hinata had improved as well, which was crazy to think about. This quick set could change Karasuno's game entirely.

She caught the last part of Hinata's monologue. "You really are awesome!" he cried, glancing up at Kageyama with stars in his eyes.

The manager could've sworn that she saw something in Kageyama's brain snap off. He stared dumbly at Hinata, trying to comprehend what he just said. "W... What's that supposed to mean, moron," he said slowly, like he was in a daze.

"The poor boy doesn't know how to take a compliment," Mikaela said with a laugh.

Sugawara laughed. "I think Hinata just broke him."

The rest of the game was a showcase for a lot of the hard work that the boys had put into this week. Their first attempt at a synchronized attack worked like a charm. Nishinoya set the ball for Asahi, and the ace spiked it out of bounds, but it was still somewhat close. Bokuto fell into what the team deemed 'mopey mode' around the twenty point mark, where Karasuno took the lead for the first time since the camp had begun. Unfortunately, the boys still ended up losing by two points, but it was a close game regardless.

"Y'know," Mikaela remarked as she shuffled the stat sheets into a pile, "they may have messed up a lot, but I think that they'll really go far."

Shimizu nodded in agreement. "You're right."

"Girls! Anything you want to add?" Ukai called as the team did their final lap of diving digs.

Shimizu shook her head. Mikaela glanced at the team as they dove down to the floor. Her eyes fell on Nishinoya. "Maybe give Kageyama a chance to sync up with Nishinoya," she said thoughtfully. "If Nishinoya is going to set it, having Kageyama as a hitter would be cool."

The coach nodded, glancing over at Takeda, who grinned and nodded along with him. "That'd be good," he said finally. "Thanks, Mikaela, I hadn't even considered that."

She flashed him a thumbs up before trotting after Shimizu, who smiled at her. "Ready to go home later?" she asked.

"No," Mikaela said without hesitation, watching her cousin try to grab Hinata in a stranglehold. "Not at all."

She couldn't even begin to imagine how strict her mother was going to be when she returned home. She'd rather stay here for years. The volleyball courts and the practice games felt like paradise.

 _No,_ she thought to herself, following Shimizu out of the gym, _a_ _nywhere without my mother is paradise._

No, she definitely didn't want to go home.

* * *

 _"Tobio, I swear to god, if you hang up on me without answering my questions-"_

"Geez, Kai, calm down."

 _She huffed, squeezing her phone tight enough to break it. "Every time I call, you never answer my questions," she said with a sigh, shoulders slumping. "I don't want to talk about me, I want to know how you're doing. How'd your games go?"_

 _There was a silence on the other end of the line._ "Fine," _came the reply._

 _"Bullshit."_

"We lost."

 _She raised her eyebrows. From the sounds of it, Karasuno had a team that could make it to the finals in the Inter High competition easily. Unless Kageyama was exaggerating, which he rarely did. "To who?"_

"Blue Castle."

 _"Wait, Aoba Johsai? Oikawa and Iwaizumi?"_ _Mikaela leaned back in the hospital bed, surprised. "I bet Oikawa was having a laugh about that."_

"It was my fault-"

 _"Yeah, like I'd believe that," the black-haired girl said with a roll of her eyes. "You guys will win next time, right?"_

 _Kageyama didn't reply for a moment, before saying,_ "Yeah."

 _"C'mon, you can sound more determined than that."_

"Fine. Yes, we'll win for sure next time."

 _"That's more like it," Mikaela said with a nod, satisfied. "You can't win everything, you know."_

 _She heard him snort on the other end of the line._ "Yeah, you're one to talk."

 _"Excuse me?" she laughed lightly, stretching her good leg out before curling it underneath her, like she was seated cross-legged. "What's that supposed to mean?"_

"Kaisha, in case you haven't noticed, you take losing worse than I do."

 _"I do not."_

"Yes you do."

 _"Do not."_

"Do too."

 _"I do not!"_

"You do!"

 _Mikaela groaned loudly, trying (and failing) to hide the smug grin on her face. "I'm sure you guys did great. Besides, I start school in two days, right? I'll see you soon."_

"Right. Maybe you can eat lunch with us."

 _"What'd you mean, maybe? Of course I'm eating lunch with you. I know no one else," she said, rolling her eyes. She was about to continue when the door to her room in the hospital opened and her mother stepped in. Mikaela felt something foul build in her mouth. "Sorry, Kags, I have to go," she said bitterly._

 _Kageyama seemed to detect the change in her tone._ "Your mom?"

 _"Yeah. See you in a few days."_

"I'll come visit tomorrow."

 _She smiled softly. "That'd be great. Thanks, Tobio."_ _She ended the call and set her phone on the small table next to the hospital bed before she looked up at her mother. "What now?"_

 _Her mother crossed her arms. "I've got a tutor here for you that'll get you ahead in Japanese lessons."_

 _"Nope, I'm too tired." Mikaela faked a yawn and fell back against the bed, pulling the thin sheet up to her chin. "Good night."_

 _"I'll bring her in here," she threatened._

 _Mikaela peeked up over the sheet and raised an eyebrow at her. "And I'll sleep through her lessons. What's your point?"_

 _"You need to stay caught up in your studies-"_

 _She'd heard this speech many, many times. She could probably recite what her mother was going to say, word for word. "I don't care," she said bluntly, pulling the sheet over over her head. "I'm caught up. I'll live."_

 _"Kaisha-"_

 _"Good night."_

 _"You're as stubborn as your father!"_

 _Mikaela pulled the sheet over her head just long enough to say, "good," before she tucked her head back into the pillow. She heard the door slam and grinned to herself into the pillow. Only two more days._

* * *

 **Hello my lovelies!~ Wow, reviews just skyrocketed last chapter, thank you all so much :D**

 **jungkookies:** Ice cream symbolism indeed ;) Well, when the opportunity presents itself... Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **manga. geek. 3:** Yeah, helping out the team is definitely a sort of mental therapy for her. Well, what her mother doesn't know (yet) won't hurt her... Thank you for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** Yeah, Tsukishima/Mikaela interactions are hard to write, because it's either awkward or they're at each other's throats. I'm trying to work on it, but I don't want to force it into any places that it really doesn't need to be. Thank you, as always, for your lovely review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** You and me both. I'm excited for you all to read when the rest of the team finds out about her injury ;) Thank you for your review! :)

 **jonica77:** Of course! Thank you for letting me know that you would like warnings. I'm glad you're enjoying Mikaela's story so far! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Watermist of Windclan:** I'm glad you like it so far! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Guest:** Oh ho, look at how observant you are! I was hoping someone would have a hint of an idea, I'm glad you did. I'm glad you're enjoying the Tsukishima/Mikaela friendship! I'm not sure if it'll be a pairing yet but you're right, they both need someone like each other in their lives, so being friends is the number one step. They're not quite there yet.

The reason Mikaela doesn't have a Japanese name is because her father was born and raised in Canada! His family is almost entirely Japanese, even though they live in another country, and someone at some point married someone with the last name Mikaela, and thus, the name carried on. Her father moved to Japan about six years before Mikaela was born. I hope this helps a bit :)

 **I know I say it a lot, but thank you again! Your support is a wonderful motivator :) I hope to hear from you!**


	18. The Barbecue

**Thank you so much to BlackPachirisu, Samrit, alifeinaworldofdreams, animefreak112097, TsugumiSora, Aquarius the water bearer, Summer314, Nikooru-sama, blueerimartian, snowlikestardust, Sayori1412, and Shadow Wolf 15846 for the fantastic support :)**

* * *

"Oh my god, this is so f-"

"Language," Sugawara said quickly, shooting a look at the younger student.

Mikaela returned his look with a glare. "This is so good," she finished, rolling her eyes when Sugawara gave her a nod of approval before returning to his conversation with the Nekoma libero, Yaku. Seriously, he'd just popped out of nowhere to call her off. What was he, her mom? Needless to say, he'd be a better mother than the one she had right now.

Barbecued foods were seriously some of her favourite, hands down. Mikaela had stacked her plate and was plowing through it like no tomorrow as she stood next to Kageyama, making odd comments about the games and the playing level of the other players.

"You're gonna eat all that?" Kageyama asked, raising an eyebrow at her plate.

Mikaela swallowed the chunk of meat that was in her mouth and raised an eyebrow right back at him. "Yes, and then I'm going to go back for seconds. You know how much I eat, Tobio."

"You eat like a horse," someone said dryly, and she didn't even have to turn to know it was Tsukishima.

She turned anyways, rolling her eyes at him. He was sitting on the cement steps, with Yamaguchi standing next to him, using his chopsticks to finish off the rest of the meat on his plate. "You eat like a mouse," Mikaela remarked, noting the blond's untouched plate.

He shrugged. "Not hungry."

"Tsukishima! You need to eat more!" Daichi jumped into the conversation, carrying a platter with two humongous rice balls.

The middle blocker looked dubious. "Um, I can't eat all that."

"I'll eat it if he won't," Mikaela added, stealing a rice ball from Kageyama's plate without him noticing.

"Eat your vegetables too!" This time, Kuroo popped into the conversation, his face stuffed with food and a set of tongs clutched in his hand. "You too, Kenma. No hiding." A short boy with dyed blond hair who was sitting on the other side of the cement steps flinched and buried his nose back into his phone.

"You need more rice," Daichi insisted, setting the plate down in front of Tsukishima.

Not to be excluded, Bokuto stepped in. "Don't forget the meat! Eat more meat!" he called, holding another set of tongs with a juicy piece of meat pinched between the ends. Mikaela reached out with chopsticks and expertly plucked the piece of meat from Bokuto's tongs, setting it on her own plate. He barely even noticed. "If you don't, you won't grow up big and strong like me- hey, where'd the meat go?"

"You know, Bokuto-senpai," the manager said casually, waving the piece of meat in the air, "you should really keep better watch over your food. And isn't Tsukishima taller than you?"

"Yes! No! Maybe? Wait-"

"I apologize for his behavior," came a familiar voice, and Mikaela nearly grinned when she saw Akaashi pull Bokuto by the collar. Bokuto started arguing loudly with his setter before becoming distracted by Hinata and taking off again. Akaashi sighed, rolling his eyes, and wandered after Bokuto.

"Hey, Kaela!" Yamaguchi popped up beside her. "Have you tried the-"

Mikaela paused, surprised. "I'm sorry, what did you just call me?"

The pinch server paused, heat rushing to his face. "W- What? Kaela? Well, you said I could think of a nickname."

"Kaela," she repeated. "I like it. Thanks, Yams."

He grinned at her, the pink on his cheeks making his freckles pop out. "No problem!"

The barbecue signified the end of the training camp, but she didn't give herself any time to dwell on that. It had been quite the wild ride: horrible cramping session, left hand spikes, magazine articles, and Tsukishima. Oddly enough, she didn't regret any of it. Mikaela had half expected to regret agreeing to practice left hand spikes with Nishinoya or regret telling Tsukishima about her prosthetic, but both risks had worked out in the end.

There was a buzz in her pocket, and Mikaela reached down to try and fish her phone out of her pocket while balancing her plate on the other hand. She nearly screamed when she saw who the caller was. "Oh my god!"

"What?" Kageyama asked, leaning over to her.

"It's Dad!" she chirped excitedly, her plate nearly tipping out of her hand. Yamaguchi leaned over and pushed his chopstick onto one end of the plate to balance it. "Oh my god, it's my dad, yes! Yams, can you hold?..." Mikaela thrust her plate at him without waiting for an answer, her eyes trained on her phone the entire time. As soon as the plate was lifted from her hand, she immediately pressed the phone to her ear and started walking away from the group for some privacy. "Dad? Hello?"

The trio watched her trot away. Yamaguchi set Mikaela's plate down on the steps next to Tsukishima. "I think that's the happiest I've seen her since we met her," he remarked, glancing at Tsukishima.

The blond shrugged and glanced up at Kageyama. "She doesn't talk to her father often, does she?"

Kageyama shook his head. "He works a lot. She hasn't seen him in a while."

"Does he go away for work?" Yamaguchi asked, glancing at Kageyama.

The setter thought about how much he could say, before he decided that it was better if he just didn't say anything, and he shrugged. "You can ask her yourself," he said, picking up more rice from his plate.

Meanwhile, Mikaela was speaking a hundred words a minute as she tried to rush through all of her thoughts and feelings with her dad. "Camp's been wild, Dad," she squeaked, glancing over her shoulder to see Kuroo putting Bokuto in a headlock. "Everyone's so nice, and a bit twisted, but that's all cool."

 _"A bit twisted?"_ her father chuckled. _"Like, more than you?"_

Mikaela puffed out her cheeks. "Oi, rude."

 _"I kid, pro, I kid. I'm glad you're having fun."_

"Yep, Tobio's been working nonstop on a new quick set with his partner, and they finally pulled it off today," she added as she saw Hinata race by, chatting eagerly with the tall half-Russian player from Nekoma. "And Tsukishima's finally started putting more effort into games. And the team pulled off their synchronized attack today! It was great. And Nishinoya's setting for Asahi has gotten so much better, they're so close to pulling it off. And-"

 _"Geez, stop and breathe, pro. You're going a mile a minute."_

She sighed. "Sorry."

 _"Nah, don't apologize, I'm glad you're loving it. Seems like you've made some friends."_

"Eh, kinda. Tsukishima- he's this twisted tall kid that bothers me constantly- knows about my leg. I told him."

Her father sounded surprised. _"So he's twisted and bothers you, and you told him about your prosthetic? I thought that was going to be a 'no one shall ever know' thing."_

"Yeah, I thought so too," Mikaela agreed, trying to relax her shoulders. "But... I've been thinking a lot about it," she admitted, "and I want people to know. Eventually, not right away, obviously. But if I want people to make friends with, I have to let them know they can trust me, right?"

There was a pause. _"Who are you, and what have you done with my daughter?"_

"Ha, very funny."

 _"I'm proud of you, kiddo. What happened to the whole thing of Tobio being your only friend for the rest of your life?"_

"Niiyama happened," Mikaela said. "I kinda realized that he won't be around all the time."

 _"True that, pro."_

"And he needs to learn to make friends too. Oddly enough, I think he has, in his own way."

 _"Tell that kid I say hi, and thank him for looking after you for me. I know you're a handful."_

She laughed. "I am _not_ a handful."

 _"Hell yeah you are, kiddo."_

"I'm not! One second." She pulled the phone away from her ear and turned back to Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Yamaguchi. "Hey!" she called, and the trio glanced up at her. "Am I a handful?"

"Yes," Kageyama said without hesitation.

Yamaguchi shrugged. "Maybe?"

"You're a pain in the ass," Tsukishima said with a roll of his eyes.

She glared at him before holding the phone back up to her ear. "Never mind. I hate all my friends."

 _"They all just told you that you're a pain in the ass, didn't they?"_

The manager almost laughed out loud. "No! Maybe. Ugh, fine, yes they did."

 _"Told ya."_

"Oh, shush."

 _"Alright, pro, I'd love to keep talking to you, but I have to get back to work now,"_ he said, and Mikaela sighed. _"I'll try and call you soon, I swear. Give me another two months and we'll be living together again."_

She smiled wryly. "Counting down the days, Dad."

 _"Love you, kiddo."_

"Love you too."

He ended the call, and with a sad smile, Mikaela tucked the phone back into her pocket. Being distanced from her father was difficult, but she would've managed if it wasn't for her mother. Maybe she could live on her own? As tempting as it was to stay at Kageyama's for an extended period of time, her mother would know exactly where she was- and Kageyama's mother would tell her.

She made her way back to the ground, and her eyes immediately set out to search for her plate. "Where's my?..."

Hinata was hovering over her plate, clutching some food between his chopsticks that was halfway to his mouth when he noticed her gaping at him. Hinata shoved whatever he had picked up from her plate into his mouth. "Sorry, Mikaela," he said between chews, "I thought this was Bakayama's!"

"But you still ate it once you saw me," the black-haired girl pointed out, glaring at him.

"Sorry!"

She sighed. "It's fine, I-" Her phone buzzed again, cutting her off. She frowned. Was her dad calling her back? "Wow, I'm popular," she joked to herself, raising an eyebrow at Kageyama as she grabbed her phone and checked the caller information. Her face split into a grin. "Speak of the devil."

Tsukishima frowned at her. "Who were we talking about?"

"Oh, no one," she clarified. "But this is the devil himself." She held the phone up to her ear. "Hey, Oikawa-senpai."

The reaction was instantaneous. Kageyama's eyes widened and he started glaring accusingly at her phone. Hinata choked on his food, and Yamaguchi smacked him on the back hard enough to make him stumble forward, nearly face-planting into the cement steps. Tsukishima smirked at the orange-haired spiker.

 _"Heyo, Mika-chan! How's the training camp?"_

"How'd you know we were at a training camp?" Mikaela asked, ignoring the nickname. She watched Sugawara swoop in to check and see if Hinata was alright.

Oikawa hummed over the phone. _"I have my sources. Say hi to Tobio-chan for me!"_

"Oikawa says hi," she said, smirking at her cousin. Kageyama glared at her.

"Wait, Oikawa called you?" Sugawara asked, raising his eyebrows at her and giving her the skeptical-mom look. "Like, Aoba Johsai's Oikawa? Team captain?"

 _"The one and only!"_ Oikawa trilled.

"You heard that? One sec, I'm putting you on speaker phone." Mikaela pulled the phone away from her ear temporarily and hit a button on your phone. "There, Oikawa, you're all good. Say hi."

 _"Heyo, Karasuno!~ What's new with you these days? Still practicing so you can try and put up a fight against us?"_ Oikawa's voice rang out loud and clear, and caused several members of Karasuno to put some rather nasty looks on their faces as they glared at Mikaela's phone. Kageyama looked like he was considering throwing her phone at the far wall.

"Mikaela," Daichi said slowly, "why does Oikawa have your phone number?"

She shrugged. "Because I was on his phone and I sent myself a beautiful picture of Oikawa in agony. Want to see it?"

"Ooh, yes please," Sugawara said eagerly. Mikaela exited the phone app with a grin, going to hunt through her gallery.

 _"Mika-chan, don't you dare show them that photo-"_

"Stop calling me Mika-chan, then."

There was a long pause until Oikawa finally replied, _"Fine! Of course I'll stop."_

"You and I both know that's a lie," Mikaela said casually. Her eyes lit up. "Oh! Found it!"

 _"Mikaela, don't you dare-"_

"Pfft!" Sugawara tried to hold back his laugh. The photo was the one that Mikaela had taken of Oikawa screeching as his nephew called him out for just breaking off with his girlfriend. Daichi smirked slightly, trying to hold back his laugh, and suddenly the rest of Karasuno crowded around her phone. Tanaka let out a laugh and tried to wrestle her phone away from her to get a closer look.

Nishinoya snorted. "What was he yelling about this time?"

"His nephew- that kid in the picture, right there- was eager to inform us that Oikawa's girlfriend had dumped him."

 _"Mika-chan! That's personal information!"_ Oikawa squawked on the other end of the line. _"You-"_

"Oh, who're ya talking to?" Kuroo found the need to join the conversation, and Mikaela nearly threw her phone at his head. "Is that your boyfriend, Temper-san?"

"No!" Mikaela said quickly, ignoring the scathing looks that the rest of the team was throwing Kuroo for the mere suggestion that the horribly twisted volleyball player could possibly be her boyfriend. "No, this is Oikawa-senpai, he's the captain of the Aoba Johsai volleyball team."

 _"Mika-chan is like my and Iwa-chan's adopted child!"_

Mikaela scowled. "I am _not."_

 _"You basically are."_

"...Fair."

"Oi, Temper-san, how come he gets to be called senpai?" Kuroo asked, cocking his head. "We're your senpai too." Bokuto appeared suddenly behind the Nekoma captain, nodding eagerly in agreement.

Mikaela glared at him. "You haven't earned it."

"Oi!"

 _"That's our Mikaela, as cold-hearted and ruthless as ever,"_ Oikawa said with a laugh. Before Mikaela could protest, he added, _"oh, Iwa-chan says hi."_

"Iwaizumi's there?" the manager asked, suddenly a bit more interested in the conversation. She turned and glared at Kuroo and the rest of the Karasuno team that had taken an interest in her conversation. "All right, go away, I'm switching this off speaker phone," she said, turning around and bringing the phone up to her ear. "Sorry, Oikawa, you're off speakerphone. Is Iwaizumi-senpai there?"

 _"Yup! We're out for lunch with Mattsun and Makki."_

"You got a day off?"

 _"Yep. I wanted to practice more but Iwa-chan dragged me out of the gym."_

She rolled her eyes. "Good for him. Say hi to Matsukawa-senpai and Hanamaki-senpai for me."

There was a brief pause before Oikawa returned to the phone. _"They say hi to their favourite niece."_

Mikaela paused, confused. "Niece?"

 _"Well, yeah, if Iwa-chan and I are your parents, then they've claimed the uncles spot."_

"Seriously?!"

 _"Yep! We're all one big happy family here, aren't we? Ow, Iwa-chan, don't hit me!"_

Mikaela burst into laughter. "You guys are ridiculous. I love you all so much."

 _"Makki and Mattsun love you too. So do I. Iwa, on the other hand- ow! Hey! Never mind, he says he misses you."_

"I miss you idiots too. I should get going, though."

 _"Alright, fine. But are you doing okay?"_

She shrugged before she realized that Oikawa couldn't see her. "Yeah. Why?"

 _"You sound better. Like, less grumpy and angry."_

Mikaela smiled. She'd forgotten how observant Oikawa was. Sometimes, it was almost disturbing how much he picked up on, and other times, he was as dumb as a brick. But he picked up on more then she'd realized. "I'm good," she replied, surprised at how easily she said it. "Tsukishima knows, by the way."

 _"Four-Eyes? That grumpy blond dude? He knows? Like, the-"_

"Yes, the leg thing."

 _"Okay, Mika-chan, out of all the people to tell, why the hell would you tell that guy? He seems like he doesn't care about much."_

"I know," she said, smirking.

 _"You... Oh. Ah... I get it. It's because he doesn't care, right?"_

"Yep."

 _"Oh, I'm good at this,"_ the setter chirped cheerfully. _"Oh! Our food's here. Sorry, Mika-chan, I can no longer grace you with the sound of my voice."_

She rolled her eyes. "Sure. Say bye to the boys for me."

 _"Talk to you later, Mika-chan!"_

"Bye, Oikawa-senpai."

* * *

There were a lot of people sleeping on the trip home. Apparently, a week of nonstop volleyball plus extra practice had taken a toll on everyone, because the bus ride home just caused everyone to completely crash.

They got home late, and Mikaela was set to walk home with Kageyama. But when the dark-haired setter split up to go his own way, she was surprised to see Tsukishima walking next to her. "What'd you want?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He glared at her. "My house is this way, idiot. As much as I dislike you, I'm not going to take a different route just to avoid you."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't put it past you."

Tsukishima scowled at her. The rest of their walk was in silence, but it wasn't entirely uncomfortable. Mikaela was kind of touched: a week ago, the blond would've been walking in front of her or behind her, and now here he was, walking beside her. _Well, that's development,_ she thought with a small smile. They reached her house, and Mikaela noticed the car in the driveway- her mother was home. She swallowed her nerves down. "See you tomorrow for practice?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Thanks for walking with me, Tsukishima."

"I wasn't walking with you."

"You- You just were!"

"No, we just happened to be going the same way. You were walking with me."

"Same difference!"

"No, me walking with you would imply that I enjoy your presence. I merely tolerate you. You're not at that level yet."

"Excuse me? You think I enjoy your presence? You're barely scraping by the toleration level."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, a faint smirk on his face. "Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow."

Mikaela sighed, realizing that if she kept arguing now, they wouldn't be going home anytime soon. "Yeah, see you tomorrow." She waved at him as he pulled his headphones on, turning away from her and continuing down the road.

 _See you tomorrow._

Grinning to herself, Mikaela turned towards her front door. Who knew that she'd become closer to Tsukishima, of all people? Definitely not her. "I'm home," she called, kicking off her shoes. She didn't even wait for her mother's reply (because she knew her mother didn't care) and she took the stairs two at a time up to her room. Her phone buzzed, and she frowned, pulling it out of her pocket.

 _ **Kageyama Tobio (17:28):**_ _Thanks for everything this week._

She beamed. Then she thought of something and started typing furiously.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (17:29):**_ _Can I ask for a favor?_

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (17:29):_** _Sure_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (17:29):_** _Will you go on a run with me tomorrow morning? I want to see if I can actually jog on this thing_

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (17:30):_** _Sure, see you at 6?_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (17:30):_** _Yep!_

Mikaela grinned to herself, spinning in a circle, before plopping herself down on her bed. She pulled up her track pants, staring down at the shiny silver fake leg, and she fiddled with it for a moment before popping it off and bringing it closer to her face. No scratches, no dents, no stains. It still looked brand new.

Had it really been three months with a prosthetic? Had it actually been that long?

She was about to load up a movie on her phone that she could watch when she heard her mother call from downstairs. "I hope you did all that homework you were supposed to do!"

The manager glanced at her desk, piled high with untouched paper work. She resisted the urge to throw her prosthetic at the stack of worksheets.

"Crap!"

And so, her night was spent doing homework, rather than movie watching like she would've wanted. Oh, well. Even if she had brought it with her for the trip, she wouldn't have done it anyways.

Mikaela sighed, nearly smacking her forehead off the desk.

 _I can't wait for practice tomorrow._

* * *

 **I'm so humbled and so grateful for all of the support, thank you all so much :) Over 7k views? I'm so blessed, thank you all :D**

 **blueerimartian:** I KNOW I'M TORN BETWEEN MAKING HER STAY AS A MANAGER OR LETTING HER PLAY AGAIN but yes, I initially wasn't going to let Kuroo find out, but I thought it'd be a bit more interesting that way... ;) Thank you! I've been neglecting her relationship with Kageyama and I hate myself for it, there's so much potential between them and I really want to explore that more. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **snowlikestardust:** Thank you! I love the other teams, and letting Mikaela interact with Nekoma and Fukurodani was fun, and I wish I could explore it more. Hinata's not great with secret-keeping, but we'll see... I still haven't decided how I want to let that play out yet ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** I'm glad you're liking the little interactions! There're only a few but hopefully they're good ;) Thank you so much for your review, as always! :D

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **animefreak112097:** I'm glad you like it! Thank you for your review! :D

 **This chapter was more fluff than plot... eh, I like how it turned out. Next chapter we'll dive into the prelims. Since the prelims and the actual tournament are about two months apart (prelims are in August, tournament is late October, I think) I've got a bit planned school-wise and there's going to be a big turn in Mikaela's life in the next three or four chapters. The 'team reveal', as we'll call it, has been pushed a bit. Sorry about that.**

 **Thank you all so much!**


	19. The Dreaded (but Necessary) Conversation

**Thank you so so much to Shadow Wolf 15846, manga. geek. 3, Sayori1412, blueerimartian, Wolfie0000, bookdragonslayer, jily shiper, and Shekat55 for your loving support :D**

* * *

Jogging was horrible.

Mikaela managed to run with her cousin for about ten minutes before she felt like her lungs were collapsing in on her. Kageyama walked her home and finished his own run while she sat on her front step for forty minutes and fumed angrily, cursing her prosthetic leg.

Her mother was horrible.

The black-haired girl, when not working on homework or school assignments, was dragged into tutoring lessons from online teachers that she slept through. Her mother was on her case about studying, and Mikaela wasn't pleased.

School was also (you guessed it!) horrible.

Mikaela had never been good at paying attention in class. She always got distracted or would doodle on her paper, and then she'd complain when she didn't understand the lesson. Unfortunately, summer break was very much over, and school was no more interesting than it had been before the break.

Her only saving grace was that Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were in her class. She'd never really talked to them before the break- although Yamaguchi had made some efforts to include her in their conversations- but now, after the training camp, she'd started walking with them to lunch in a different classroom with Kageyama, Hinata, and Yachi. They'd worked on a math assignment together that had gone pretty well.

But class started getting a bit more annoying when Kahano Yukinagi pushed her way in to their routine.

Mikaela didn't know when it started, but she started noticing a girl with long auburn hair and pretty hazel eyes that kept going out of her way to talk to Tsukishima. She'd ask him for help on questions she didn't understand (he'd tell her to go ask someone else), she tried to strike up a conversation with him before class (she was ignored) and she even tried to get Tsukishima to join her for lunch. That didn't go her way either.

Mikaela had done her best to ignore this new girl, but she was so irritating that it was proving difficult.

"Good morning, Tsukishima-kun," Kahano chirped when the blond entered the class on a Thursday morning, Yamaguchi by his side.

The manager nearly laughed out loud when Tsukishima ignored her, going to take his seat with his best friend, which was a row in front of Mikaela's seat. Yamaguchi shot her a desperate look and Mikaela smirked at him, shrugging.

"Did you understand the homework?" the auburn-haired girl said, trying in vain to keep the conversation flowing. "It was difficult, but I'm sure you did fine."

"It was fine," Tsukishima said with a shrug, propping his elbow up on the desk and resting his chin in his palm.

Yamaguchi nodded along. "Yeah, question four was-"

"Could you help me out with it later?" Kahano asked eagerly, cutting the dark-haired boy off. Yamaguchi looked a bit put-out, but Mikaela kicked the back of his chair with her foot and shook her head. Not his fault- he wasn't the source of interest for her.

"No."

She pouted. "Why not?"

Tsukishima was saved from answering when the teacher entered the class. Kahano sighed and moved back to her seat with another girl, who punched her lightly in the arm and giggled. The two girls looked at Tsukishima in unison, then looked back at each other and started giggling again. The teacher began the lesson, but Kahano and her friend kept turning around and glancing at Tsukishima (if he noticed, she couldn't tell) before turning back to each other and giggling again.

"So annoying," Mikaela muttered, tapping her pencil against the desk.

"Mikaela? Did you have something to add?" the teacher asked, turning to stare at her.

Heat flushed her cheeks. "No, Sensei, sorry."

Classes went on, as boring as usual, and finally lunch rolled around. As soon as the bell rang, Mikaela gathered her belongings and joined Yamaguchi and Tsukishima as they left their classroom, heading to the empty room where they normally ate lunch.

"So this Kahano girl," Mikaela said, turning to Yamaguchi, "why's she obsessed with this asshole?"

Yamaguchi shrugged. "She probably likes him. She's been at this since the summer break ended a week ago."

"It's annoying," Tsukishima said with a slight growl in his voice.

Mikaela raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I didn't know anyone could actually have a crush on you." Tsukishima glared at her and punched her in the shoulder. She punched him back, smirking.

Yamaguchi laughed. "You'd be surprised, actually. I've had a couple girls come to me asking about Tsukki and whether he was seeing anyone."

"Really?" He nodded sheepishly. "I'm sorry, that sucks."

"Meh, I've gotten used to it," Yamaguchi continued, shrugging. "Tsukki's popular."

"That stills blows my mind," Mikaela said, shaking her head. "What do girls see in him? It can't be his charm."

Yamaguchi laughed as the blond glared down the manager, who grinned sheepishly. The trio finally got to their classroom, and Hinata greeted them eagerly by waving his hands in the air and tossing his sandwich onto Kageyama. The setter, evidently furious, tried to lunge across the table to grab Hinata, and they didn't settle down for at least five minutes. Mikaela was laughing the whole time, not sure whether to egg Kageyama on or to save Hinata.

Lunch came and went, and class resumed. Mikaela had mostly ignored Kahano, not wanting to be annoyed by her presence and just let her be, but since her conversation with Yamaguchi just before lunch, she started noticing the little things a lot more and it was significantly harder to ignore.

When the teacher ended the lesson and gave them time to work on their homework, Mikaela did the usual: she picked up her chair and planted it next to Yamaguchi's desk. She wasn't great at math, and sometimes needed confirmation that she knew what she was doing, and it was much preferred to working alone.

Literally not even two questions in did Kahano appear at their table. The black-haired girl glanced up from her paper and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Tsukishima-kun," she greeted, "what did you get for the first question?"

"We got five," Yamaguchi answered, saving the blond.

Unfortunately, the auburn-haired girl completely ignored him. Yamaguchi and Mikaela looked at each other and rolled their eyes. _Looks like Tsukishima's on his own for dealing with this one._

"Five," Tsukishima said, not looking up.

"That's not what I got," Kahano said, frowning as she glanced at her own sheet before tucking it behind her. "Can you show me how you did it?"

"Go ask someone else."

"Please?"

"Look, Kahano-san, you're bothering him," Mikaela said with a sigh, fed up with the distraction. She had homework to do, and this girl being obsessed with Tsukishima certainly wasn't helping her get it done. "There's plenty of other people you can ask."

Kahano turned to her and looked her up and down (which, admittedly, was a bit difficult when she was seated and hidden by a desk) before glaring at her. "I don't recall asking for your opinion," she said, frowning.

Mikaela raised her eyebrows and turned to look at Yamaguchi, who was coughing into his fist. "And he didn't ask for you to bother him," the black-haired girl said quickly, looking back at Kahano and trying to form some sort of comeback in her head so she didn't look stupid. "So why don't you go back to your desk so you don't have to listen to me and Tsukishima doesn't have to listen to you?"

Yamaguchi shot her a thumbs up and Mikaela grinned, her confidence filling now that she knew she had her friend's support. Kahano was about to shoot something back when Tsukishima turned his head to smirk at Mikaela. "No one wants to listen to you anyways."

"Oh, shut up," she grumbled, poking his forehead with the eraser end of her pencil. "Not like you ever have anything intelligent to say."

He snorted, swiping a lazy hand up to knock her pencil away. "I'd tell you to keep talking until you manage to say something intelligent, but you'd be talking for years if that were the case."

"You may want to avoid thinking, you may sprain your brain," Mikaela taunted, crossing her arms. Meanwhile, Yamaguchi's eyes flitted back and forth between the pair like he was watching a tennis match go back and forth.

Tsukishima sat up a bit straighter in his seat. "Well, you're living proof that a human can live without a brain."

"Excuse me-" Kahano tried.

Mikaela held up a finger, silencing her, not taking her eyes off Tsukishima. "I don't know what it is that makes you so stupid, but it really works," she said with a smirk. Kahano's jaw dropped, obviously miffed that the pair had point-blank ignored her and continued their banter.

"Really?" Tsukishima said, his face twisting into a smirk. "How'd you get here, did someone leave your cage open?"

The black-haired girl's face split into a grin. "Not bad."

"Excuse me?" Now, the trio plus Kahano all turned to the teacher's desk, where she was glaring at them, a pen clutched in her hands and hovering over a stapled package of paper. "Is there a problem? Kahano, take your seat."

The auburn-haired girl shot Mikaela one last frown before muttering, "yes, Sensei," and trudging back to her desk. Yamaguchi gave Mikaela and high-five, then turned to Tsukishima, hand raised. The blond raised an eyebrow at him, and Yamaguchi tapped his shoulder instead, causing Tsukishima to roll his eyes and Mikaela to giggle to herself.

Class finished sometime later, and Mikaela walked with the boys to practice, where Coach Ukai reminded them that the preliminaries were on Saturday. She was almost dizzy with excitement; she'd finally get to see the boys play.

"Coach, what teams are in our bracket?" she asked while the boys were trying serving drills.

He shrugged, flipping through a page in his binder. "Well, they're the prelims, and we get a by on the first round... I think six other teams. We have to win two rounds to move on."

"What teams are they?" she asked again, and he showed her the list. "One second," Mikaela murmured, copying the names of the schools into her notebook, using her left hand to take notes. Coach Ukai watched her scribble away, bemused. "Got it!" She shut her notebook, grinning.

"What's your plan?" he asked.

She waved the notebook at him. "I'm going to look up whatever I can on these teams. How they did in the Interhigh, who's on the team, average height, strengths, weaknesses, the whole lot."

"For six different teams?" he said slowly, and she nodded. "Even though we'll only play two of them?"

"Yep."

He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "You're an odd one."

"Thanks, I think."

"No, seriously, thanks, Mikaela," Ukai said, clapping her on the shoulder and nearly making her flinch. "You pick up the little things, and that can be a game changer. Thank you."

"Oh, it's no trouble," Mikaela said quickly, blushing from the praise. "I like doing it. It's not work to me at all."

"Yeah, you and Kageyama- and Hinata- all amaze me sometimes with how into this you all are." He glanced to Takeda, who nodded in agreement. "You lot are volleyball crazy."

Her words caught in her throat. "Y- Yeah. Thank you."

Mikaela scurried away, not wishing to continue the conversation any longer. Any more talk about how volleyball crazy she was and she may end up spilling her whole back story. Maybe that wouldn't be a bad idea. After all, he was the coach: he deserved to know. She bit her lip. Tsukishima had said that the team wouldn't judge her, but did that count for coaches too?

Maybe...

She didn't know what to do. So she turned to the person in her life that she expected to make decisions for her. "Hey, Tobio," she called, right after her cousin landed a wicked jump serve. "Come here for a sec."

He nodded, grabbing a volleyball from the floor and putting it back in the cart before he jogged around the court and in front of her. "What's up, Kaisha?" he asked, crossing his arms.

"Should I..." Mikaela trailed off, suddenly second-guessing herself. "Should I tell the coach?"

Kageyama knew what she was talking about; she didn't even have to clarify. "Do you want my opinion or do you want back up?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Mikaela sighed- he could see right through her sometimes.

"Both."

"You should," he said immediately, no hesitation required. "Want to at the end of practice?" Kageyama didn't even explain himself; he just stated his thoughts without worrying for what she'd say. That was what she loved so much about him- he wasn't afraid to give her his honest opinion. His lack of hesitation most likely meant that he'd wanted her to tell Coach from the beginning. Mikaela nearly sighed in relief- despite his own opinion, he'd completely respected her choice.

"I love you," she said with a smile.

He blinked. "Thanks?"

"Get back to practice, you dork," Mikaela said with a roll of her eyes, shoving his shoulder. "End of practice sounds good to me. Thank you."

Kageyama nodded, turning around, but before he could get anywhere, he turned back. "Kaisha?"

"Yeah?"

"I, uh..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "I love you too?" he said eventually.

She laughed, her heart singing happy songs in her chest. "You don't have to make it sound so forced," she joked.

The setter flushed. "Well, I mean it."

"I know." Mikaela beamed, tilting her head slightly. "Go practice!"

He smirked at her. "Fine."

Practice went on, and the black-haired girl went on with her duties, anxious for the planned meeting at the end of the day. She kept glancing at Coach Ukai without meaning to, and every time he caught her eye, she'd scurry away before questions could be asked. He tried to ask her to organize the practice jerseys for him and she'd nearly flinched from the sound of his voice. _God, I can't do this. This is a dumb idea._

And then practice was over, and everyone was gathering their belongings, and Mikaela's heart was hammering in her rib cage like a sledgehammer. She squeezed her hands into fists, nervous. "See you tomorrow, Mikaela," Sugawara called over his shoulder as he was leaving with Daichi and Asahi. Yamaguchi waved at her, but Tsukishima was already taking off, and he hurried to catch up.

"See you," she echoed, waving slowly. _Oh no, oh no-_

Kageyama's tap on her shoulder nearly made her flinch. "Ready?"

"Nope," Mikaela said honestly.

"Ready for what?" Hinata asked, cocking his head.

The setter stepped forwards. "We're just going to talk with Coach about something."

"About what?" he asked, and Mikaela ducked her head, determined to avoid eye contact. A light bulb went off in the decoy's brain. "Oh! Is it about the-"

"Hinata!" Mikaela hissed, her eyes flashing to Nishinoya and Tanaka, who were just leaving the gym. They were the only two left in the gym members of the team left in the gym besides Kageyama and Hinata, and Coach Ukai was already packing up his bag. "Not out loud!"

He grinned sheepishly, shrinking down. "Sorry, sorry."

Kageyama rounded on her. "You _told_ him?"

"Not all of it!" she defended quickly, mentally sighing with relief when she saw Nishinoya and Tanaka vanish out of the corner of her eye. "Just that I'm injured and that's the reason I don't play." Mikaela shot him a glare. Kageyama relaxed, his shoulders dropping.

"Wait- Kageyama knows?" Hinata cried.

They both raised their eyebrows in unison, glaring at the shorter player. "Yeah, he's my cousin, he knows everything," Mikaela said.

Hinata visibly shuddered. "You both glared at me. That's absolutely _terrifying._ Never do that again."

"Do what?" Kageyama asked, confused.

He raised his arms above his head, trying to explain through gestures rather than words, which didn't really work overly well. "You both look the same," he started ("we don't" they chorused at the same time), "you're both plenty scary, and you both just gave me the same death glare at the same time!"

"No-"

"Oi! Brats! Go home!" The trio turned to see Coach Ukai, packed up and ready to leave. Takeda waved at them over his shoulder. "Get lots of rest, prelims are in two days."

"Wait- Wait!" The adults paused. "I need to talk to you," Mikaela rushed out before she lost her nerve. "Please?"

Coach shrugged. "Sure. What about?"

"Uh," she stammered, nearly biting her tongue by accident. "That's, uh..." She glanced at Kageyama helplessly, shrugging. _What do I say?_ "Ah, um, a private thing?"

"Mikaela?" She'd almost forgotten Hinata was there- he'd gone uncharacteristically silent. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly.

She looked at Kageyama for his opinion. He shrugged. Did she want Hinata finding out? Not particularly. But she really wanted to make friends with the orange-haired ball of sunshine... He was a good kid. She didn't think he'd be the type to keep a secret very well...

If she wanted to be friends with him, she needed to trust him.

"No, that's alright," Mikaela said softly, smiling weakly at him. "I'd like it if you stayed, actually."

Hinata visibly perked up. "Oh! Okay."

"Should we, uh, sit down for this? Mikaela? Is it serious?" the teacher asked, his eyes darting to a stack of chairs at the far side of the gym.

"That's probably best," she agreed, and after a brief reshuffling, she was sitting in sort of awkward circle with Kageyama on her right, and Hinata on Kageyama's other side. Coach Ukai and Takeda sat across from them, both confused but willing to listen.

Ukai shifted slightly, resting his elbows on his knees and placing his chin on top of his laced fingers. "So?" he said quietly.

She paused.

"You know what this is about, don't you?"

"I have an idea," he admitted. "I'm just glad you finally came to us on your own."

Takeda raised a hand to adjust his glasses. "If it had anything to do with your hidden medical records, then I might have an idea too," he said sheepishly.

Mikaela winced, rubbing the back of her head. "Yeah. Kinda."

She turned to Kageyama, and her cousin shifted his chair closer to hers, a silent symbol of comfort for her. Mikaela smiled wryly and he tried to smile back, but it looked more like a grimace. "I'm right here," he said with a nonchalant shrug, but it meant worlds to her.

"Okay, uh... I don't know where to start," she confessed.

Her coach shrugged. "Wherever feels right. Go from the beginning."

"Okay," Mikaela said slowly, exhaling. _Where do I start?..._ "I've played volleyball about as long as Tobio," she started, glancing at the setter. "And you can probably tell I love it as much as him. And Hinata too, for that matter," she added, peering around Kageyama to make eye contact with her cousin's partner. He smiled at her, but it seemed forced.

"I was in Niiyama until about mid April, not long," she continued, feeling her anxiety run through her veins, "I was set to be on the team for the upcoming season, and..."

Mikaela gulped. _I can't do this._

Something warmed closed around her hand. She glanced to where her hand was laying in her lap and saw Kageyama gripping her hand. He wasn't looking at her, but the message of support was clear.

And just like that, in one swoop, her anxiety seemed to vanish.

"Ah, fuck it," she said with a sigh, leaning down to grab the hem of her track pants. She pulled the material up past her knee, completely exposing the prosthetic that was attached to her knee. "Ta da," Mikaela said dully.

"Kaisha!" Kageyama hissed.

"What?"

"That's a bit sudden."

"I didn't know how else to do it."

He sighed, shaking his head, and squeezed her hand lightly. She squeezed back, turning to survey the expressions of the others in the area. Ukai's face was completely blank, and he was staring at her leg with little to no expression on his face, save for surprise. Takeda had leaned closer, adjusting his glasses as he squinted at the hunk of metal that had replaced her leg.

Hinata had fallen off his chair. "Holy crap!" he squeaked, scrambling up to his feet and nearly tackling her as he lunged forwards. Kageyam backhanded him hard enough to knock him back on his butt. "Mikaela, there's something on your leg-"

"Yeah," she said with a shaky laugh, "I guess there is."

"A prosthetic," Takeda said, leaning back in his seat. "Wow. I have to say, out of any of the possibilities that I had in my head, that was certainly not one of them."

"You- You-" Hinata spluttered, still obviously shaken.

Ukai sighed slowly. "So... what kind of injury led to this?" He, too, seemed shaken up.

Mikaela tried her best to explain, with Kageyama gripping her hand for support the entire time. She talked about the gym, and the truck, and the fire, and although her voice got awfully shaky near the end of her story, she managed to finish. She was getting close to tears, as she always did when she tried to recount this story, but she managed to get through it. She never mentioned her rough relationship with her mother.

When she was finished, she sank back into the chair, worn out. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," the black-haired girl said quietly. "It's... not easy to talk about."

"Mikaela," Hinata said faintly, "you're missing your leg."

"She just explained that, dumbass," Kageyama scolded.

The coach sighed, turning their attention back to him. "Does it cause you any pain right now?" he said, keeping his voice level. "Like, is there anything that bothers you?"

"There's plenty of things that bother me," she said with a roll of her eyes, staring pointedly at Kageyama. He let go of her hand and swatted at her. "Kidding. Physically, I get some pretty bad leg cramps sometimes, but it's been a lot better lately," she lied, pinching her cousin's thigh before he could say anything. "I'm on medication. I'm trying to get back to my regular fitness schedule but it's difficult."

"If these... _cramps_ every happen during practice," Takeda said, "You'll tell us, right?"

"Of course."

"Have they happened at practice before?"

Mikaela's hesitation was enough for Ukai to pounce. "Mikaela. When?"

"At the training camp," she said with a sigh. "When Tsukishima and I went to pick up that athletic tape. But Kageyama brought me my pills and I was fine," the manager added quickly, before the coach could say anything else.

He sighed. "That explains a lot," their coach muttered.

"So, does Tsukishima know?" Takeda asked, snapping Ukai back to attention.

She sighed. "Yeah. He does."

"Tsukishima knows?" Hinata squeaked. "So when you said you were injured and that it was permanent-"

"Well, it's not like she can regrow her leg, dumbass," Kageyama grumbled.

"But can you play?"

 _Ah, that's the question of the year._ Mikaela bit her lip, knowing the answer already. "Not yet," she said heavily, locking eyes with Kageyama. "It's getting better and I've been practicing in my free time. I..." Mikaela trialed off, ducking her head towards the ground. "Volleyball is everything to me," she said. "To us. And Kags and I, we used to tell ourselves that as long as we had volleyball we'd be okay. We had each other, and we had the sport we loved. Then that got ripped out from underneath me."

She sighed wistfully. "You know, when we were getting through Junior High, Kags told me once that the only way it'd be the end of the world to him would be if he could never play volleyball again. I had agreed, but now it's become a reality, and I get it.

"I'm going to keep working so that I can play eventually," Mikaela summarized, crossing her arms. "I can't yet. But until then, I'm going to be one of the best managers this team has ever seen."

There was a bit of a pause while Mikaela let that sink in. "That works for me," Ukai said finally, leaning forward onto his elbows again. He tilted his head to glance at Takeda. "Any concerns from you?"

"As long as you're physically healthy, then we've got no problems," the teacher agreed.

"Thank you for telling us," Ukai added.

She shrugged. "Thanks for listening."

"We should get going," Kageyama put in, glancing at his phone. "You have a curfew."

"Ah, forgot about that." The pair stood up, bowed to the adults, then started to help put away the chairs they'd taken out. Mikaela felt another part of the weight lifted off of her shoulders. That had gone reasonably well (it was still questionable at this point) and Mikaela was pleased with how it'd turned out. Hopefully, she wouldn't see any differences in the coach's behavior towards her during practice or such.

Takeda bid them good night, and left just a minute before Ukai, who grumbled something about having to do work at his store before he could actually get to sleep. Hinata was still oddly quiet, but the remaining trio left the gym and started on their walk home (except for Hinata- he went and grabbed his bike).

"Hey, Mikaela?" Hinata asked as they started walking, guiding his bike by the handles. "Thanks for letting me stay around with you two."

She nearly paused mid-step, taken aback by the boy's gratitude. "Oh, it was no problem. I'm trying to work up the nerve to tell everyone, but it's a bit difficult."

He nodded. "Yeah, sounds like it. I can't even..." Hinata shook his head. "I can't imagine what it's like."

"What what's like?" Kageyama asked.

Hinata looked up to him, and Mikaela nearly stopped when she saw the unadulterated sadness behind Hinata's eyes. "Not being able to play volleyball, even though you love it so much," he murmured, shaking his head.

"I'll play eventually," she promised weakly, kicking at a pebble on the path. "Hopefully."

"Yeah," Kageyama agreed, nudging her with his shoulder. "Of course you will."

The path split up. Kageyama and Hinata were set to go one way, while Mikaela was supposed to go the other way. She grabbed Kageyama in a hug, thanking him again for helping her gather the nerve to do tell the coach, and then even gave Hinata a quick hug. The boy was small, but he was a good hugger. She waved to them one last time and was about to leave when she heard Hinata call out to her.

"Hey, Mikaela!" he called, waving at her. "You can call me Shoyo if you want!"

Her heart seemed to swell in her chest. "Only if you call me Kaisha!" she yelled back, grinning. "See you two tomorrow!"

And with a weight lifted from her chest, thanks to the help of two dumb but passionate volleyball dorks, Mikaela slept soundly for the first time in a while.

* * *

 **Early chapter!**

 **...I know I said I would get to prelims but this happened. Ugh. Kind of sidetracked but I don't regret it, I think this turned out well. Yay, development :)**

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you! Thank you for your review! :)

 **blueerimartian:** I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED THAT BIT I WAS CACKLING TO MYSELF WHILE I WAS WRITING IT BECAUSE IT FITS SO WELL AAAAH and the Kageyama-Hinata fight happened in chapter 8! Mikaela jumped into the series later than most OCs do (right after their loss against Aoba Johsai) so the fight's happened closer to the beginning of this fanfic. Thank you so much for your review, you're so sweet :D

 **Sayori1412:** I know, right?! What is it about asshole characters that make me love them so much? They're so... UGH. Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed that bit with Mikaela and her father, he means a lot to her, and I've got a bit planned to go further with that ;) If you like non-plot chapters then I hope you liked this one! I enjoyed writing it so much that I didn't realize how long it was and that I was supposed to get to prelims... I'm going to try and cover all of the prelims next chapter. I don't see the point on spending multiple chapters on something the readers already know the outcome of. Thank you so much for your review, you're too kind :)

 **manga. geek. 3:** Yep, we're taking a quick break from her mother, because she's so annoying to write and sometimes I get carried away XD Besides, I've got something major that'll happen soon that'll completely twist her relationship with her mother from tolerable to something else. Thank you so much for your review! Thank you! :D

 **NEXT is prelims. I promise. I'm hoping to cover both matches in one chapter- I don't see the point in spacing out an event that y'all know the outcome of.**

 **I love you all :)**


	20. The Preliminaries

**Oh my goodness, thank you so so much to Sayori1412, manga. geek. 3, jungkookies, SumCheeze, Shadow Wolf 15846, jily shiper, PenguinOtaku, snowlikestardust, Andy64, harleenbumrah2002, Delkayewalt, yanaven26, 96a. b96, Redb4Black, KuroHanaChan, and heartdiamong for your support! You all mean so much to me, thank you :)**

* * *

Mikaela just wanted Friday to be over with. She was extremely excited for Saturday, so excited that she'd barely scraped by with two hours of sleep last night. She'd been too busy scouting the other teams online. Videos, social media, anything she could get her hands on. Her notebook (a new one ever since she completely filled her old one) had several pages dedicated to each team. But seeing them in person would definitely help.

This new annoying girl (Kanano? Konoha? Something like that) didn't seem to let up. Yamaguchi and Mikaela both laughed at the blond as he struggled throughout the day to get rid of her, but nothing seemed to work for him. He even snapped at her at one point, losing his temper, but she had taken it in stride.

The bell rang, and Mikaela started to collect her things so she could head to practice when someone tapped her on the shoulder. "Mikaela-san?"

She turned fast enough that she could've punched the girl before she even realized what was going on. _God, people need to stop surprising me like that._ It was the annoying girl from before- Kahana? "What?" she said sharply, her tone a mix of surprise and annoyance.

"Can I speak with you for a moment, if that's alright?" the auburn-haired girl asked softly, her cheeks turning pink. "In private?"

She was confused. "Sure?"

Mikaela followed the girl out of the classroom, waving Yamaguchi off when he shot her a questioning look. Tsukishima shrugged, uncaring, and he and Yamaguchi left to go to practice. "Kahano, are you coming?" one of the other girls called, and the black-haired girl nearly face-palmed. Ugh, she _almost_ had her name.

"Later," she called back, and her friend nodded. Once they were in the hallway and safe from any eavesdroppers, Kahano turned towards Mikaela, sighing. "I hope you realize I'm really swallowing my pride to ask you this," she said.

The black-haired girl raised an eyebrow, trying to stifle a laugh. "I don't even know what you're going to ask," she admitted.

"I'm getting to that," Kahano said with a frown, furrowing her eyebrows. "Look, you're, uh... You're friends with Tsukishima-kun, right?"

"I guess," Mikaela said with a shrug. She didn't really know what to label their relationship as, but friends would do for now. "Well, acquaintances is more like it. He's horribly annoying," she vented, her eyebrows knitting together as more passion crept into her tone. "And very frustrating. And-"

"So you don't like him, then?"

"No," she said immediately, before pausing to reconsider. "...No," Mikaela said again, shaking her head. "It's not like that."

Kahano frowned. "You're blushing."

"Am I? No I'm not. What was your question?"

"Oh. Uh, I, well..." she trailed off with a sigh. "Look, you seem pretty close with him. I really like him, and I have for a while, but over the summer break I convinced myself to go for it. But... I don't quite understand him yet. Do you... Do you have any advice for me? Like, what does he like?" Kahano's face was bright red, and she was fidgeting with a pen in her hands.

Mikaela blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend the situation. Yamaguchi was right- this girl had a crush on Tsukishima. But she was asking _Mikaela,_ of all people, how to win over the blond prick? Seriously?

"Tsukishima's a..." she huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. "He's different," she concluded after a moment of thought. "He likes pissing people off and getting under your skin. He'll do anything he can to make your life miserable, and he's an overall crappy person."

Kahano raised an eyebrow at her. "Seriously? Don't you have anything positive to say about him?"

"Nope. Anyways, he... Well, he gets annoyed especially when people tell him what he can and can't do," Mikaela said slowly, trying to wrap her mind around Tsukishima's twisted personality. "He's independent. He gets annoyed by people easily, especially when someone asks him for help, so pretending you don't know the answer to a question in the homework and asking him for help isn't a good idea," she said with a smirk on her face.

Her eyes widened. "How'd you know?"

Mikaela shrugged. "I think the best way to go about it is to be bold, and maybe a bit blunt, too. He's observant but definitely not about that sort of thing. Don't wait for him to say or do something, because he won't. Sorry I can't give you better advice, I don't know him as well as it seems."

"That's better than nothing," Kahano said with a sigh. "Thanks, Mikaela-san."

"Just Mikaela's fine," she insisted. "I've got to go, though."

"Oh! Alright. Sorry to keep you." She bowed, then turned on her heel. "See you Monday!"

"See you," she echoed. _What just happened?_ Mikaela shrugged to no one, then turned and started making her way to the gym. What an odd conversation, especially from a girl who seemed so ticked off with her yesterday. _Yesterday's enemy, tomorrow's friend,_ Mikaela thought, rolling her eyes.

Practice went smoothly. Mikaela spent a while talking with Coach Ukai about the team's she'd looked up and who she thought they'd be likely to face in the prelims. They had a possibility of two teams for the first match- her money was on Ohgi Minami, even though they lost to Shiratorizawa badly in the Interhigh- and she was very eager to relay all the information she'd discovered about them to the coach.

She left practice earlier than she would've liked; that dumb curfew her mother had set up was being strictly enforced. She considered waiting an extra minute so she could walk with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, but she didn't want to risk being late.

"I'm home," she said with a yawn as she walked through the door, the lack of sleep from the night before finally beginning to catch up with her.

"Homework?" came the yell from her mother's office.

"Nope!" Mikaela lied. "I'm going to bed!"

Her mother's head poked out of her office. "I've got a tutor lined up for you-"

"Geez, Mom, I'm not failing anything, I don't need another online tutor-"

"This one's not online," her mother clarified, pinching her lips together. "She's coming tomorrow for four hours. It's Saturday, you won't have school, and I'm sure you can miss practice for the sake of your studies."

Mikaela stared blankly at her mother. "What- Did you not listen to a word I said this week?" she snapped, her tiredness vanishing in the blink of an eye. "We've got the preliminaries tomorrow. I'm out all day. I've mentioned it every single day."

"You don't need to go," she dismissed without hesitation. "You're just a manager."

"Mom, this is my _team._ I can't just ditch them like that."

"Aren't there two of you?" her mother asked, frowning. "There's no point in you being there if there's already another manager. Why bother?"

Mikaela mashed her teeth together in frustration. "I'm going, whether you like it or not."

"Watch your tone, young lady-"

"You can cancel whatever tutoring appointment you set up for tomorrow," she snapped, her ponytail whipping into her eyes as she turned away, "and reschedule some tutoring for how to be a better mother, because you really need it."

Mikaela charged up to her room and locked the door. She couldn't deal with this, not today. She tossed her bag against the wall and let out a scream of frustration. With a hefty kick, she sent a volleyball flying across the room, hitting the desk at the far wall and knocking a pencil off of it. Her leg throbbed in complaint and she had to calm herself before she smacked herself out of rage.

She didn't sleep that night either.

* * *

Mikaela took no chances the next day: she escaped from her house via the bedroom window.

The bus ride was long and tiresome, considering she barely slept both of the previous nights. She couldn't manage to fall asleep on the bus, but she did rest with her head against Kageyama's shoulder for the duration of the ride.

The boys were all nervous, to say the least, the third years especially- though they were doing a decent job of holding it together. Asahi, however, looked like he might puke once Hinata mentioned how sick he felt. Kageyama was insulting Hinata like no tomorrow, and Yamaguchi was rubbing his stomach like he was going to be sick too. Mikaela didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She'd seen these boys lose so many games over the past month that she'd expected to see them a bit nervous, but this felt so over the top.

As soon as the coach announced that they were playing Ohgi Minami, Mikaela was quick to dive through her notebook and share everything she had with anyone who would listen. "They're a team of all second years," she said to Daichi, Sugawara, and Ennoshita. "They only had one third year but he left after the Interhigh. The tallest players on their team are two second years that are both six-foot-one. Their captain is Yoshiki Towada, and he's a bit of a powerhouse, but from the clips I watched, he seems to be... lazy? Not quite the right word, but-"

"Slow down, Mikaela," the captain said with a laugh. "How'd you get all this info?"

"You think this is a lot? I have more."

Sugawara paused. "Like what?"

"The captain, Towada-san, has a younger brother, and his birthday is August 24th," she said proudly.

Ennoshita shuddered. "And you found this out _how?"_

"Social media," she said with a shrug. "He had a birthday post for himself and a family picture."

"You found him on..." Nishinoya trailed off.

"Social media?" Tanaka finished.

Mikaela nodded, pleased that they'd decided to join the conversation. "Anyways. Their number four is smart, but when he goes to tip, he tucks his other arm up against his chest." She raised her right hand in the air and tucked her left arm close to her body, trying to demonstrate. "And their team isn't great at receiving in general. The libero is pretty decent, though. And their number two just had a bad break up with a girlfriend."

"You're terrifying," Ennoshita said blankly.

She paused. "Thank you?"

"If I never need to dig up dirt on someone, I know who I'm going to," Kinoshita whispered to Narita.

Mikaela managed to overhear the exchange, and she grinned. "Nah, this is nothing. I learned it all from Oikawa-senpai."

There was a huge drop in the atmosphere over the team. Kageyama's scowl deepened, and he squeezed the drink pouch that he was clutching with enough ferocity to permanently bend the shape. Daichi and Sugawara exchanged a wary look. It was clear that nobody on the team seemed to like Oikawa all that much.

"The game's wrapping up," Takeda called. "Let's get going!"

"Good luck," Mikaela said warmly, flipping her notebook shut and handing it to Daichi. "Everything on Ohgi Minami is on the page that I put my pen under. I think Shimizu-senpai went down already, so could you give this to her?"

"Of course," he replied, accepting the notebook and smiling at her. "Thanks for everything, Mikaela."

"No problem," she said, waving at them as they walked away to the gym. "I'll be rooting for you from the stands."

The team called out their thanks to her as they left. Hinata gave her a hug, which nearly made her tear up (ugh this boy was so adorable sometimes) and Yamaguchi looked like he was about to come over to her but Tsukishima called to him and he settled for a wave instead. She wished Tsukishima good luck, and he'd nodded to her, which was a significant step up from the constant yelling and bickering.

Kageyama was the last to leave. "We'll win," he said, his face showing just how determined he was.

"I know," she replied, not even a sliver of doubt in her mind.

"We'll win for you," he added.

Mikaela paused. "Kags, they don't even know about my... You know. Besides, this is for you guys, not me."

He shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I know. This is for us. But I want this to be for you too. You'll go to the spring tournament this year." Kageyama's gaze hardened, almost like he was glaring at her, but not quite. "You're going to go to nationals this year," he said confidently.

Mikaela couldn't think of anything to say. Wordlessly, she pulled him in for a hug, squeezing as hard as she could, trying to convey all the emotions that she just couldn't put into words. "Thank you," she emphasized, her voice shaky. "Thank you."

"Kageyama!" Sugawara called from the gym entrance. "Let's go!"

The manager pulled away from her cousin and forced a grin on her face. "Go get 'em."

He smirked at her. "For sure."

Their game against Ohgi Minami went well. Actually, it went better than she expected. Mikaela watched with glee as Kageyama nailed all of his serves, one after the other. She nearly cackled to herself when number four went to spike and changed to a tip, tucking his left arm into his chest, and Daichi was already right there and ready to receive. Hinata and Kageyama didn't even use their new quick set at all, and they still won the first set, 25 - 16.

A couple people had showed up to watch the Karasuno game, but Mikaela had shifted away from them. Her anxiety was kicking in, and she wasn't overly eager to talk to an elderly man or the group of kids that had come with him. There was another woman there that the children referred to as Sensei, so Mikaela suspected that it was probably a class trip of some sort.

The second set went even faster, but Ohgi Minami seemed a bit more energetic in this set than they were in the first. However, their motivation didn't help them much, and Karasuno won again, 25 - 13. Mikaela cheered to herself and took off to find the stairs to go and congratulate the boys on their win. However, she got a bit wrapped up with watching a game on another court- Kakugawa and Nishida- that she didn't even notice when the Karasuno captain was next to her, handing back her notebook.

"Thanks, Mikaela, your notes were great. We'll be playing the winner of this game," Daichi said, pointing at the court she was studying. He waved at her and trotted back towards the stairs.

Mikaela's eyes zoomed in immediately back to the court and settled on Kakugawa, a team that hadn't stood out previously but had recently adopted a kid who was over six and a half feet tall. She hadn't been able to see any videos of any games with this new guy because they had only recently pulled him on to the team (the only reason she knew about him was because one of the players had posted a photo on social media with him bragging about his new team mate) and she knew little to nothing about him.

"Mikaela!" someone called.

"One second," she called back, her eyes never leaving the court. She watched the giant of Kakugawa Academy jump and spike the ball from above the blockers. _Is he actually..._ She leaned closer into the railing, narrowing her eyes.

Something fastened to her shoulder and pulled her backwards. "Idiot, you're going to fall off the railing if you lean any further," Tsukishima scoffed, Yamaguchi beside him.

Mikaela hushed him. "One more point." Kakugawa served, the opposing team received, and spiked it to an open back corner, securing the point. "Okay, now one more point," she insisted.

"You're just waiting to see that goliath attack, right?" Tsukishima asked.

"Yes, now shut up."

"See, now I'm just more inclined to keep talking-"

Mikaela waved her arm in his general direction, and by pure luck, smacked him in the face. Tsukishima scowled at her and shoved her, but Mikaela was too focused on the game. Then, Kakugawa's goliath went up to spike, and she grinned. "All right, I'm all good," she said, turning back to the two boys. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"You're an asshole," the blond told her with a frown.

"Takes one to know one," Mikaela retorted cheerily, grabbing Yamaguchi's arm and towing him towards the stairs. "C'mon, we need to find Daichi-san."

"Oh- Okay!" the pinch server said, shooting his best friend a panicked look before he was dragged down the stairs. Tsukishima rolled his eyes and trailed after them, his eyes lingering on the manager for a second too long before he looked away, glancing back at the game.

Mikaela considered taking the steps two at a time, but the last time she did that, her legs had decided that they weren't having it and had started cramping early that night. She let go of Yamaguchi's arm when she hit the bottom of the stairs and propelled herself towards her cousin, grabbing him in a bear hug. "Nice game," she complimented, grinning wildly.

"Thanks," he said casually. "You see who we're up against?"

"He's so tall!" Hinata squeaked from behind Kageyama, glancing back towards the court through the open door at the far side of the room. "How the heck am I supposed to go up against that? He's a goliath!"

Mikaela raised an eyebrow at him. "You're scared?"

"Wait, don't tell me you're scared of that guy," Kageyama said, his eyebrows rising to the top of his head.

Hinata visibly shuddered. "You're doing it again!"

"Doing what?" they asked in unison.

"Gah! Stop it! I've had enough! I need to use the bathroom!" Hinata's flurry of statements hit Mikaela like a whirlwind, and then the tiny boy was gone, taking off as fast as he could, nearly tackling Tsukishima on his way by.

Someone called out for her and she turned to see Coach Ukai, who crossed his arms when he reached her. "Your information on Ohgi Minami, while very... _in depth_ , was good," he told her. "I don't need to know which ones have been through break ups, though."

She frowned. "Really? Not even if you can exploit that as a psychological weakness?"

"You're an evil girl. What do you have on Kakugawa?"

Mikaela shrugged, flipping open her notebook. Kageyama leaned over her shoulder, trying to decipher her printing. "Not as much as I would like. I originally brushed them off, but when I was stalking Asamushi Kaito on social media- he's a wing spiker, by the way, and he's great with crosses but not so good with line shots- he had posted a photo with that goliath, and the caption was something about a new team mate. Here, I printed off a copy of the post-"

The entire team (well, the ones who were listening) all paled. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But all I've got on that guy is that he's pretty athletic but he's new to volleyball, so he's probably working on the basics. That, and from what I watched, he doesn't know how to hit different shots. He just spikes whatever way he's facing."

"Ah, so that's what you were looking for," Yamaguchi realized, and she nodded, beaming.

"They're a good defensive team," Mikaela continued, snapping her notebook shut. "But with Hyakuzawa, their goliath, their offensive power has skyrocketed."

Sugawara clapped her on the shoulder. "Thanks, Mikaela, you're the best."

"Anytime. Are you sure you don't want any extra information?" she asked, reopening her book. "I've got break up dates, who broke up with who, who's failing what classes-"

 _"No,"_ came the unified response from the entire team.

(Nishinoya and Tanaka looked like they wanted to ask, but one glare from Daichi fried any thoughts of rebellion in their heads.)

She shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"We're up now," Daichi said loudly, noting the open court. "All right, let's get going!"

The team let out a hearty cheer and ran for the court, eager to get the next game underway. Mikaela waved cheerily to them all, completely confident that they would win the game. Kageyama clapped her on the shoulder and she nudged him with her elbow. Hinata, who had returned from the bathrooms, pushed his hands onto her shoulders and jumped, propelling himself high enough that he could leapfrog over her if he wanted to.

"Good luck, Shoyo!" she called, and he grinned wildly at her.

"Thanks Mikaela- no, that's wrong- thanks Kaisha! We'll win for sure!"

"Since when're you so close with Shrimpy that you use first names?" Tsukishima mused as he passed by.

She shrugged. "Since he found out about my prosthetic two days ago."

"You told him?" the blond asked in surprise. Mikaela nodded. The middle blocker snorted, amused. "And here I thought you were the smart one. He can't keep a secret to save his life."

"Maybe so, but now we're on a first name basis," she replied. She looked up at Tsukishima and grinned. "Should I call you Kei, then?"

He smirked. "We're barely past the 'no suffixes' stage, Mikaela. Don't push your luck."

She rolled her eyes and punched him lightly in the shoulder. He scowled and punched her back. Mikaela shoved him forwards, urging him to get to his own game. Yamaguchi gave her a high-five as he went by, and Mikaela beamed at him.

 _They're going to win._

Mikaela went back to the stairs and made her way up to the viewing stands, dodging around several small children and a few adults who had come to watch the game. With a huff, she settled her arms on the railing and slumped. Her leg was bothering her already. Darn it.

The game was going well. Although Hyakuzawa was quite the threat (in both the front court and the back court), Karasuno was countering with a defensive court spread rather than trying to stuff him completely. Nishinoya was getting some excellent reads on the goliath, and the majority of his spikes were received perfectly. Sometimes, Hyakuzawa was just too much of a cannon, and there was nothing anyone could do.

Mikaela got really excited when Kageyama and Hinata broke out their new quick set. The goliath panicked, and Karasuno took the first set with minimal problems at 25 - 18. She cackled to herself at the frustrated look on Hyakuzawa's face- clearly he hadn't expected anything so fast in volleyball.

The old man from the first game was chatting with some of the kids, who were eagerly trying to voice their opinions of Hinata. The old man reminded her of someone... Mikaela couldn't quite put her finger on it. He started to talk about the quick set and Mikaela's ears zoomed into the conversation. "The way they're using it is a waste."

Mikaela turned so hard that she nearly got whiplash. "What's that supposed to mean?" she said sharply, before clapping a hand over her mouth.

 _Oh, shit._

"Hmm?" He looked over to her, about ten feet away, and nearly did a double take. His eyes went back to the court and then drifted back to her.

"Cousins," Mikaela said without missing a beat, already knowing the underlying question. "Not twins."

"Ah. Are you their second manager, then?"

"Yep. Who're you?"

"Ukai Ikkei. I used to coach the team, and I've been working with your cousin a bit over the past week."

She snapped her fingers, the connection finally forming in her head. "That's it! I knew you reminded me of someone. Father? Cousin? Uncle?"

"Grandfather," he chuckled.

Mikaela nodded, then narrowed her eyes as she went back to the topic at hand. "So. The quick set. What exactly do you mean when you say the way they're using it is a waste?" She hadn't meant to say it out loud, but now she was curious.

The older Ukai grinned. "If I told ya, you'd just tell Keishin. Besides, it's not something that's easy to understand."

"Try me," she deadpanned.

"Nah," he replied, glancing back down at the court as the freak duo nailed another quick set right over Hyakuzawa's head. "You look smart, you can figure it out."

"That's not very helpful," Mikaela said with a scowl, turning back to glare at the court. Hinata zoomed in with his quick set, adding another point to Karasuno's score. Hinata tried to get a high-five out of Kageyama, but the setter just held his hands up and the orange-haired boy launched himself forwards, determined to get that high-five. The game continued, and Karasuno was nearing set point, but Mikaela still couldn't figure out what the elder Ukai meant. The quick set was working great; they'd only botched it once or twice by accident. How were they wasting it?

"Are you on that team?"

Mikaela looked down to see a young boy, maybe eight or nine years old, with sparkly wide eyes peering up at her. "Yeah," she said casually.

"That's so cool," he gushed. "I love the short boy!"

The black-haired girl grinned to herself. "Yeah, he's pretty cool."

"That tall boy is scary!" a girl chirped, pointing a tiny finger towards the court. Mikaela raised an eyebrow- was she talking about Kageyama, Tsukishima, or Asahi?- and laughed when she saw the girl's finger point directly at the ace.

"Nah, he's not all that scary," she said warmly. "He just looks like it. He's a big softie."

"He is?!" the two kids chorused in unison.

She nodded. "Yep. He's a really nice guy."

Another girl decided to join their conversation. "The other tall ones are scary too."

"Which one?" the boy asked.

"The blond one," she replied, glancing down at the court. "He keeps glaring at everyone."

The older woman who was being addressed as Sensei by the kids turned her head from her conversation with Ukai to glance worriedly at the kids. "Be nice," she scolded gently.

Mikaela squatted down until she was at the same height as the girl. "You're right," she agreed, turning back to the court. "He does glare at everyone. You want to know why?"

She nodded eagerly, and the two other kids joined her. "Yes please!"

"It's because he's thinking," Mikaela answered, her eyes lingering on the middle blocker as he subbed off for Nishinoya. "He's always thinking, and he's just not good at managing his facial expressions while he does that. He thinks a lot."

The trio of kids all turned back to the court. "So he's just not good with feelings?" the boy wondered aloud.

Mikaela laughed. "Yep."

"I'm good with feelings," one of the girls announced. "See, I'm thinking now but I'm still smiling."

"Me too!" the other girl said proudly.

"Me three!" the boy chimed in.

"All three of you have a step up on him already," Mikaela said with a smirk, wondering if that was really the reason Tsukishima always looked so serious. Come to think of it, she really didn't know much about him at all. Well, she knew he liked dinosaurs. _I wonder what else he's into. Why doesn't he ever smile?_

The game finished with a 25 - 20 win for Karasuno, and Mikaela was pleased for the team, but felt incredibly dissatisfied. What the hell did that old geezer mean? She couldn't get what he said out of her head. A waste. What could he mean by a waste?

Regardless, she did her best to push those thoughts to the back of her head as she went down the stairs to greet her teammates. She congratulated each of them multiple times, and the team seemed please- they were set to advance to the tournament in October. Two more months to practice.

"I met your grandfather," Mikaela said casually as she passed by the coach.

"Oh?"

"Cryptic and bothersome, but he knows what he's talking about," she elaborated, ignoring Ukai's confused look. "If only I knew what he was talking about, then I'd be a bit better off."

Speak of the devil. The coach's grandfather waved to his grandson as he walked by, the teacher trailing after him, with the small group of children at her heels. Ukai waved with a smirk on his face. Mikaela recognized the trio of kids that she had been talking to, and to her horror, one of the girls paused in front of Tsukishima.

"It's okay," she said loudly. "I know you don't mean to be mean."

Tsukishima glared down at the girl, and Mikaela was impressed that the girl didn't back down. "What's that?" he asked, frowning.

"You always glare at everything," she announced for all to hear, and Yamaguchi faked a cough to hide his laugh. Mikaela could already tell what was coming and started to slink away to the back of the room. "That's just 'cause you're not good with feelings. That's okay though. You'll be good with feelings one day, like me."

Yamaguchi couldn't help it. He snorted loudly, and Nishinoya burst into snickers. Tanaka cackled (which vaguely reminded Mikaela of a witch), and Daichi and Sugawara were both staring at the child like they were pondering when they could adopt her.

"Not good with feelings," Tsukishima repeated blandly, a stark expression on his face.

She nodded vigorously. "Yep! The nice girl explained it to me." She pointed at Mikaela, who had been carefully trying to hide behind Kageyama. The teacher called for her, and she waved one last time. "Gotta go!" The girl took off, her curly hair bouncing as she ran.

Ennoshita smirked, turning to her. "Not good with feelings, hmm?"

Mikaela shrugged. "Had to explain it in a way they could understand."

Tsukishima turned on her, glaring at her. "Mikaela-"

"Oh, he does know feelings! I'm pretty sure that's anger!" she gasped, grinning wildly as she started to backpedal, putting Kageyama between herself and the angry middle blocker.

"To the bus!" Daichi called, clapping his hands.

"Only after I kill her," Tsukishima growled. Yamaguchi grabbed his shoulders, holding him back, all while trying to stifle his laughter.

"Save it for when we get home," Sugawara said, stretching his arms over his head. "I'm tired."

"Yeah, Tsukki, let's go home," Yamaguchi agreed.

Mikaela grinned apologetically. "Sorry?"

Tsukishima sighed, shaking Yamaguchi's arms off of him. "We both know you're not," he said, that familiar smirk returning to his face. "I guess you're not great with feelings either... Temper-san."

"Don't call me that!"

"Oh, would you look at that!" Tsukishima mocked, throwing Kageyama between Mikaela and himself. "I think that's anger!"

"Why, you-"

"Hey, don't put me between you two," Kageyama complained, trying to step out of the way.

"Fight!" Hinata cheered.

Mikaela cracked her knuckles. "I'm planning on it."

"Bus."

The first years looked up to see Daichi staring at them with a glare that clearly meant they'd be in trouble if they dragged this out any longer.

 _"Now."_

And so, the five of them scampered off to the bus, trailing after their seniors, all of them afraid of what consequences their captain would have for them if they didn't listen. Mikaela punched Tsukishima and she walked by and he nudged her back, but by the way he was smirking at her, she could tell he wasn't actually mad.

 _Two months until the tournament,_ Mikaela thought to herself.

She didn't know if she could wait two months.

* * *

 **What's this?! Another early update? I'm just having so much fun writing these chapters that I'm finishing early, I guess XD**

 **So many interactions this chapter! Mikaela's role as the team's second manager really shines in this chapter (I had a bit too much fun with that part) and I'm enjoying writing team interactions. This one was light and fluffy, next chapter everything starts to go downhill. There's two months between their prelims and their match with Johzenji, and I plan to make the most of that.**

 **Sayori1412:** Sorry, she's hanging around a bit longer ;) I'm trying not to make Kahano a stereotypical 'rival' (for lack of a better word) but I've got a little bit of plot I'm tossing in with her. You'll have to see ;) Thank you for your lovely review(s) and I hope you're doing okay with dealing with the assholes in your class ;)

 **snowlikestardust:** I like your theories! I'm glad you enjoyed the Tsukki/Mikaela bit, I have so much fun writing those! As for Kahano, she's got a minor role right now that might evolve into something bigger... I'm not sure yet. I'm just trying to avoid the stereotypical 'rival' bit for now. Thank you for your review! :)

 **SumCheeze:** Mikaela's _definitely_ going to need the team to fall back on in about two chapters. You'll see. I'm glad you're enjoying the Kaisha/Kags bit! I realized that I've been neglecting their relationship a bit and I'm trying to build that up a bit more because it's so important. Thank you for your review! :)

 **jungkookies:** I'm not going to lie, I frickin _cackled_ like an actual witch when I read your comment. Thank you for your entertaining review (you'll have to see my Kahano developments as the story goes on...)! :)

 **PenguinOtaku:** I'm glad you like them so much! I love writing those two together because they're so fun XD Thank you for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Yeah, I think that confession was a bit overdue. I kinda realized as I was midway through writing the chapter so I ended up including that bit. Thank you for your review! :)

 **jily shiper:** That makes me so happy! I love it when someone who normally doesn't like OC stories gets sucked into one of mine, it's so heartwarming. Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Honestly, it really is a bit inspirational- I find myself writing about Mikaela and realizing how strong she actually is. Her interactions with Tsukishima have to be my favourite, they could totally be seen as weird pick up lines XD Also, I tend to update on Sundays, but recently I've been posting on Saturdays- but I try to commit to once-a-week updates and I've been nailing it so far. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **manga. geek. 3:** Kageyama surprised me with how difficult he was to write. I never really considered how difficult he was until I started this story. I'm so glad you think he's in character! That makes all the effort feel like it's paid off. I agree, I love Hinata, and I definitely wanted to establish a Hinata/Mikaela friendship, but I didn't really know where to work that in, so I'm very happy that it happened. Thank you so so much for your review! :)

 **So many reviews! I feel so blessed, thank you all for almost 9k views! You all make me so happy, I'm so glad this story is thriving :)**

 **Thank you! I love you all!**


	21. The Consternation

**Thank you so much to sherry905, Sayori1412, jily shiper, Lyn, Discombobulated, Shadow Wolf 15846, trouvaille, PenguinOtaku, SumCheeze, AttackOnNacho, KuroHanaChan, ayyyrahh, Zetaern, halyyy, Akuma-no-oosama, and Ninjallama1998 for your support! I love you all :)**

* * *

 **Swearing ahead. Like, worse than usual.**

* * *

Life went on- and boy, did it suck.

After the prelims, the volleyball excitement died down a bit for Mikaela- after all, she had about two months to try and prep everything she could on the other teams they'd possibly be facing. Practices still continued everyday, obviously, and Mikaela tried her best to help out, but everyone was looking forward to game day. The tournament itself. She could tell that everyone was especially eager to take revenge on Aoba Johsai after their loss back in May.

School was beginning to take a bit of a nosedive. Kahano had taken Mikaela's advice to heart and was now searching for new ways that she could drop obvious hints until he caught on. Mikaela and Yamaguchi did their best to ignore her (although it proved difficult sometimes) and so far, they were doing alright. But one of these days, the girl was going to do something that would push Mikaela over the edge. It was _aggravating._

It was when the girl outright _confessed_ did it suddenly started becoming Mikaela's problem.

Let's back up a bit.

Mikaela had gotten used to walking home with Tsukishima. Kageyama liked to hang around after the official team practice and work with Hinata on his quick set and such, but Mikaela had a curfew to respect. Similarly, Tsukishima left when practice was over, not entirely eager to stick around for longer than he had to. They ended up going the same way, so they started walking together. It was an unspoken agreement, but Mikaela enjoyed it.

So, about a week or so after the prelims, Mikaela was set to leave with Tsukishima when she realized that he wasn't in the gym. Had he left already? "Hey, have you seen Tsukishima?" she called to Hinata, who was sprinting by her.

He paused long enough to shrug. "Dunno, I think he left."

Mikaela sighed. "Of course he did. See you tomorrow, Shoyo."

"See ya!"

She hadn't thought anything of it. She couldn't expect him to walk with her all the time, right? But she was surprised when she left the gym and saw him standing near the far side, facing someone that she couldn't see. "Tsukishima?" she called.

If he heard her, he didn't say anything. "Hey, asshole," Mikaela tried again, trotting down the steps to the gym. "Are we going, or..."

She got to where Tsukishima was and paused.

 _Oh shit._

Standing around the side of the building, previously hidden from her view, was Kahano. From the look on her face and the card that was clutched in her hand, Mikaela could put two and two together: the girl had been confessing.

Her first thought was _Damn, she actually waited until practice was over? Dedication._

Her second thought was a bit more realistic. _Shit, I just interrupted her confession._

"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly, stumbling backwards, "I didn't mean to-"

"No, we're done here," Tsukishima said suddenly, turning away from Kahano and facing Mikaela. "Come on, let's go. I'm tired."

"O- Okay?"

"Tsukishima-kun!" Kahano said quickly, moving towards them. "I hope you'll consider my feelings!"

He turned, raising an eyebrow at her from behind his glasses. "I already told you. I'm sorry, I don't feel the same."

 _Holy hell, this is awkward._

Tsukishima turned and started walking, apparently eager to get home. Mikaela turned towards Kahano, about to apologize, but then reeled back in surprise when she saw the menacing glare that was coming from her. God, Kahano looked like she was ready to tackle the manager to the ground.

"This is all your fault!" she hissed through her teeth.

"Kahano, I didn't-"

It was too late. The auburn-haired girl turned on her heel and stormed away, furious. Mikaela groaned and smacked herself in the forehead. _I'm such a dumbass._ Shaking herself, she jogged to catch up to Tsukishima.

"You turned her down?" she asked when she caught up with him, slightly out of breath.

Tsukishima didn't even spare her a glance. "Yeah."

"Why?" Mikaela asked, genuinely curious. "I mean, she's pretty, she's smart, she's nice, and she likes you."

He shrugged. "I don't like her."

"Huh." The manager kicked a pebble down the road, returning his shrug with one of her own. They made their way home in silence for a bit longer, before Mikaela finally cracked and said, "you know, you should've accepted her feelings."

"Why's that?" Tsukishima replied, uncaring.

"Because I don't know if you're going to find any girl out there that actually likes you," she teased. Tsukishima glared at her and shoved her shoulder, and she shoved him back. "Kidding, kidding. Your snarky comebacks, dark humor, and twisted personality are horribly attractive."

He scoffed. "Well, those defining traits are significantly more attractive than your crappy personality and your temper."

"Excuse me, _my_ personality is crappy? Have you taken a look in the mirror?"

"You can't see personalities in a mirror, Mikaela."

"You know what I mean, dumbass."

"Yeah, whatever."

She was already at her house. Why did time seem to pass so quickly every time she started to enjoy herself? She turned to head up to her front door, shooting Tsukishima one last glare. "See you tomorrow, moron."

"Bye, idiot."

* * *

Kahano had chosen to give her the cold shoulder at every available opportunity. Mikaela had actually sucked up her pride and tried to go apologize, but the girl wasn't going to hear it. She stopped bothering Tsukishima, which seemed to please Yamaguchi, but Tsukishima was mostly indifferent- he did, however, stop complaining nearly as much in class.

Mikaela's grades took a bit of a downhill. This did not go unnoticed by her mother, who was quick to try and force more online tutors at her. Mikaela had dodged each and every single one of them.

Needless to say, her relationship with her mother was beyond tense. Ever since she had gone through her bedroom window to get out of the house so she could go to the boys' preliminary games, her mother had been significantly worse about her curfew and her workload. Kageyama dropped by once, hoping to practice with her at the park, and it'd taken ten minutes just to convince her mother to let her leave the house.

Yeah, it sucked. Yeah, she missed her dad. But there was only so much she could do.

She could survive. She'd survive.

But everything went wrong on Thursday, August 30th.

Practice was close to finishing; the boys were doing serving drills to wrap up. Mikaela's phone buzzed in her pocket, and she glanced at the screen, nearly groaning. "One second," she said to Shimizu, bringing her phone up to her ear. "Mom, I'm at practice."

 _"Kaisha, get home right away."_

"What? Why?" Frowning, she turned to the clock on the far gym wall. "I've still got half an hour. I'm fine."

 _"Kaisha. Now."_

"What is it?"

 _"Don't be stubborn. Home. Now."_

Mikaela gritted her teeth, glancing up as Kageyama nailed his jump serve once more. Nishinoya received it perfectly and sent it up in a high arc. "Can it wait?" she asked, ignoring the concerned look from Shimizu. "Practice is literally almost done."

 _"Now."_

She hung up.

Miffed, Mikaela tucked her phone back in her pocket and turned to Shimizu. "Sorry, I think I've got to go. My mom wants me home."

"Alright," her senpai replied, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'll tell Coach you had to leave, I'm sure he won't mind."

"Thanks, you're the best," she said, relieved. She made her way to the exit, snatching her bag up as she went. Mikaela turned to the boys briefly before she left. "See you guys tomorrow!"

There was a chorus of goodbyes, varying from Tsukishima's roll of the eyes to Nishinoya's enthusiastic waving. Mikaela smirked to herself and left, already starting to imagine all of the possible scenarios to why her mother wanted her home so early. Her grades weren't even that bad- it couldn't be something like an impromptu tutoring session, could it? She would've mentioned it. No, actually, she wouldn't have, because then Mikaela never would've come home.

She took her pills as she was walking home. It was a bit earlier than she was used to, but it couldn't hurt, and she didn't want something to get in the way of it later. Whatever her mom was planning for her, she doubted there would be any free time for herself.

Mikaela pushed open the door. "I'm home," she said with false enthusiasm, kicking off her shoes and socks, leaving herself barefoot. Her prosthetic made a hollow thunk as it hit the hardwood floor. "What'd you want me home for?"

"Oh, Kaisha." Her mother popped out of the kitchen, still dressed in her work clothes- a navy blue blazer and a black pencil skirt- with her glasses propped up on her face. "You're home."

"Is it another tutor?" she complained, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Because-"

"Kaisha."

Her mother sounded... defeated, which was a strange word to describe Kageyama Monomi, because she was never defeated in anything. "What?" Mikaela snapped, fed up with the waiting. "Just tell me already."

"Your father passed away this afternoon."

The world stopped turning.

Mikaela blinked. "W... What?"

"He was in an accident at the construction site where he worked," she continued softly, pinching her lips together. "Some of the equipment malfunctioned. He took a blow to the head. He died from his injuries an hour or so ago. I just found out, so I called you."

Mikaela's lips moved, but no sound came out. _This is a dream. This is some crazy, messed up dream._ "You're joking," she said flatly.

"No, I'm not."

"He doesn't work there during the week," she said, shaking her head. "Only on weekends."

"I know. He... The accident happened on Saturday. He was in a coma since then."

Something inside of Mikaela broke. "What?" she whispered. "And they just told us?"

"No, they informed me on Saturday, while you were at your volleyball practice, or whatever it was."

This was too much.

Her vision was going blurry; her eyes had filled up with tears. "You're lying," she insisted, trying to convince herself that this was just some ploy that her mother had cooked up. This wasn't real. "You're lying," Mikaela repeated, tears starting to fall down her face. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not," she replied, crossing her arms. "I'm sorry, Kaisha."

"You knew," the manager whispered, her heart crumbling in her chest. "You _knew_ he was in the hospital."

"I did."

"You..."

Mikaela didn't know what to do.

She turned on her heel and went up the stairs to her room, locking the door behind her. She tugged her bag off of her shoulder and threw it to the ground. She glanced up at the wall, at a picture of her and her father together after her Junior High tournament.

And then she burst into tears.

* * *

It took the better part of an hour for Mikaela to finally pull part of herself back together.

Every time she thought that she was finally out of tears, she pictured her father in her mind and started sobbing again. She didn't even have the energy to be angry with her mother. She was feeling so many things at once that she didn't know how to organize her emotions. She chuckled weakly, hiccuping. _Tsukishima's right, I guess I'm not good with feelings after all._

She'd called him seven times.

Every single one had gone straight to voicemail.

Mikaela refused to believe it. She couldn't believe it. This wasn't happening.

When the tears finally slowed, and she felt like her lungs weren't going to collapse on her, Mikaela started to realize the gravity of what her mother done. She knew. She _knew._ She had known that her father was in the hospital and hadn't told her own daughter. She could've visited, she could've said goodbye, she could've been there for him. So many things she could've done.

Her father had just... he was _gone_ , and her mother had _known_ that he was in a coma and hadn't told her. How could she do that? How could she keep that from her?

 _It's her fault._

She inhaled, then exhaled, trying to control her breathing. The sadness faded, and was replaced with anger. Boiling with rage, Mikaela sat up and pushed herself off of her bed. Her eyes fixed on the photo of her with her father, after her volleyball tournament in the last year of Junior High. She had the gold medal around her neck and was holding the 'Best Hitter' plaque in her hands. She and her father were both grinning widely. The happy expression on her father's face was plenty enough motivator to make Mikaela head back downstairs.

She hit the bottom of the steps, turning towards the kitchen, where her mother was starting to make dinner. There was a heavy silence as Mikaela stood between the front door and the kitchen, trying to clear her thoughts. Her mother ignored her.

"Did you even care?" Mikaela finally managed when she found her voice. Crap, she was already starting to cry.

"Of course I did," she snapped without looking over, opening a cupboard by her head. "I was already investing money in some of the best surgeons that there are in Japan. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough."

"Did you..." she trailed off, trying to collect herself. She wiped at her eyes. "Did you even consider that I would've wanted to see him?"

"Of course," Monomi said, pinching her lips together. She finally turned to look at her daughter. "I decided that it was in your best interests to focus on your academics and your... _club_ rather than stress over a situation that wasn't going to be changed no matter what you did. There was nothing you could've done."

Mikaela's voice died on her. "But I just wanted to see him," she whispered.

"That wouldn't have changed the outcome."

"Mom, it's not the outcome, it's not his..." the word 'death' hung on the tip of tongue but she swallowed it, not willing to accept it just yet. "It's the fact you lied to me."

"I never lied," she said coolly.

"You never told me he was in the hospital, and he was there for almost a week," Mikaela hissed, blinking rapidly.

She shrugged. "That wasn't a lie, though. I just withheld information."

"God, Mom, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye," the dark-haired girl snapped, tears leaking down her cheeks. "I could've at least said goodbye."

Her mother paused. "You can say it at the funeral."

"That's not the same thing!" she yelled, her voice cracking on the last syllable. "God, Mom, how the hell could you do this? How could you not tell me? _He's my father!_ I have a right to know! I-"

"Yelling won't change anything," she replied firmly.

Mikaela threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "You don't even care! About him, about me! You never did!"

"How dare you accuse me of not caring," Monomi hissed, taking a step towards her, "you know nothing-"

"I know that you could've told me!" she cried, not bothering to wipe the tears away. Her hands clenched into fists. She was trembling, shaking like a leaf. _"You could've told me he was in the damn hospital!"_ Mikaela shrieked, losing every last bit of rationale that was left in her brain. "You could've told me he was in a coma! I could've visited him! I could've been there-"

"It would have done you no good," her mother said, crossing her arms. "Worrying about something that you had no control over."

"You don't get to decide that for me!"

"I'm your _mother,_ Kaisha-"

 _"And he's my father!"_

"He _was_ your father," her mother snapped, her infamous temper finally getting the better of her. "I know it's harsh, Kaisha, but you need to accept that he's gone. It's just you and I now."

Mikaela shook her head, furious. "It was always me and him," she snapped back, her voice cracking again. "You were never in the picture. Even when I moved here."

"How _dare_ you-"

"He cared, Mom," she croaked, her vision blurry. "He always wanted to know how school was, and he always supported me playing volleyball, and he always wanted me to try my best. He didn't mind when I only got an eighty on a test that I worked hard on, because he knew I tried my hardest. He texted me whenever he had time off. He called. He worked _three fucking jobs_ just so he could earn enough me so that one day he could get a house and I could live with him, because he knew that I hated it here."

Her anger had dissipated. Her hands hung by her side, useless. "He loved me," Mikaela continued, her voice hoarse, "and he always wanted what was best for me. Not what he thought I should do- what _I_ wanted to do."

The silence that hung over her final statement was tense. It was obvious that Mikaela had aimed that last remark at her mother. "I miss him," she said eventually, wiping at her eyes.

"I do too."

Mikaela jerked her head up. "Did you miss him, when you divorced?" she said, a newfound surge of anger jumping into her voice. "Did you care at all?"

Her mother pursed her lips, and she stared at the ceiling. "Yes, I did."

"Then why," Mikaela said, waving her arms out in front of her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Monomi sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I already told you, Kaisha. You worry too much, and it wouldn't have done you any good."

"If you really had cared about him, you would've told me," she continued, trying to calm herself. "How can you say you cared for him if you didn't even tell his daughter that he was dying in the hospital?" She was fighting a losing battle, but she mostly no longer cared. What was important to her right now was fighting on her father's behalf, like she should've done ages ago. When he was still alive.

"It doesn't matter now," her mother replied sternly. "You-"

"How am I supposed to trust you?" Mikaela said with a scowl, no longer crying. Now, it was just pure, unadulterated anger. "How am I supposed to trust you when you don't even tell me that's my father is _dying?!"_

"I'm doing what's best for all of us," Monomi said angrily, closing the distance between herself and Mikaela. "I'm doing what's best for you!"

"You don't know what's best for me!"

"I'm your mother! Of course I do!"

Mikaela groaned, mentally exhausted. "And now we're having _this_ fight again? Mom, why can't you just-"

"You can't act like you're the only one hurting, Kaisha!" her mother screamed, swinging her hand out. The back of her hand caught Mikaela on the cheek and she stumbled back. "You're not the only one affected!"

This was all too much. All the screaming, the yelling, and now hitting? Her heart was threatening to break through her rib cage. Mikaela squeezed her fingers into her palms, pressing hard enough that she may have cut skin. "No," she yelled back, ignoring the stinging in her cheek, "but it feels like I'm the only one who cares!"

"I care!" she snapped. "I've already started my proposal to sue the construction company-"

 _"That's_ your solution?" Mikaela cried out in disbelief. "Money?"

"It'll fund the funeral-"

"I'm not even surprised," she seethed, her eyes wild with fury. "All you care about is your fucking money and your fucking reputation-"

That, apparently, was too much. "Don't you _dare-"_

Mikaela was too angry to care for whatever her mother had to say. "I hate you," she spat, venom dripping from her tone. "I-"

The hit that followed was much more forceful than the one she had received not even minutes ago, and had much more hate behind it than the one from months ago. Mikaela's head snapped to the side from the impact, and she stumbled backwards.

What happened next was worse. She fell into the shelf that was on the wall, her forehead hitting the corner of the wooden board. With a crash, Mikaela fell to the floor, the world spinning around her. A framed photo from the shelf toppled above and fell to the floor, putting a crack in the glass but not quite breaking it. Coincidentally, it was a photo of Mikaela and her mother- she couldn't remember what from- and the cracked glass evenly separated Mikaela from Monomi.

When the world stopped spinning and Mikaela's ears stopped ringing, she could vaguely make out what her mother was screaming.

"-given so much for you-"

"-ungrateful, _worthless-"_

"-father-"

Oh. Her mother was crying too.

Mikaela tried to stumble to her feet, but her hands couldn't quite support her and she ended up falling back down. She scooted herself backwards across the floor, trying to put more distance between herself and her mother, but she just kept advancing and closing the gap. It felt like alarm bells were going off in her head. Mikaela's hands flew to her ears, covering them. "Stop," she moaned, starting to hyperventilate. "Stop-"

"Get out."

The black-haired girl blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision. _What did she?..._

"Get out of this house," Monomi said angrily, her dark blue eyes piercing at Mikaela like spears, "since you never wanted to be here anyway!"

She stumbled to her feet and turned towards the door, throwing it open.

 _"Get out!"_

Mikaela slammed the door behind her, nearly tripping over herself as she stumbled across the walkway and down towards the road. Her mind was moving at a thousand miles a minute. She couldn't quite think straight- there were too many complicated emotions occupying her head that she couldn't separate. Instead, they were one jumbled mess and were now initiating a panic attack.

 _God,_ what was she going to do, she wasn't even wearing shoes, and anyone could see her prosthetic-

She blinked, trying to push her self-conscious to the back of her mind. That wasn't her priority at the moment.

 _I should call Kageyama._

Yes, finally, a thought that made sense. Mikaela's hands immediately went to her pockets, only to discover that her phone wasn't there. Where was it? It was in her bag, then in her room, then... Her phone was still in her room. Crap.

Mikaela inhaled shakily, feeling something drip down her face. Her first thought was tears, but this couldn't be tears; it was something dripping down her forehead. She reached her hand up, swiping at something on her forehead, and lowered her hand, nearly gagging.

Blood. She must've cut her forehead on the shelf when she fell into it.

She exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself down, but it wasn't working. Kageyama was still at practice, probably, and she couldn't go back home, and she could walk to practice but she was barefoot, and she'd call her dad but she didn't have her phone and her father was _dead_ and-

"M- Mikaela?"

She whipped herself out of the oncoming panic attack and found herself face to face with Yamaguchi Tadashi, who was staring at her with his jaw dropped. His phone was clutched in one hand and a set of ear buds in the other hand. "Yama..." she huffed, feeling like her throat was closing up on her.

The poor boy went several shades paler. "Oh my god, Kaela, are you okay? There's blood-" His eyes widened. "What the heck is that on your foot?!"

Mikaela didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Luckily, she didn't have to choose: she collapsed on the pavement.

* * *

 **A roller coaster of a chapter.**

 **I considered splitting it up but the chapters would've been too short for my liking. So here it is, all at once.**

 **Sayori1412:** I'm also very excited for the actual tournament! Mikaela will get to see Oikawa and Iwaizumi again XD I'm glad you liked the part with the little girl, I couldn't resist. It goes without saying, but thank you for your kind review! :)

 **SumCheeze:** Evil friends unite! Yeah, I went through a phase where I went 'what's the worst thing that could happen to my character?' and this idea was born from there. Oops. I never considered a fight between Tsukishima and Mikaela but now you've given me an idea- I've got something planned for later. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **PenguinOtaku:** The poor dude can't catch a break- even the kids are picking on him. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **jily shiper:** Happy early update ;D I'm so glad you're enjoying this! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **trouvaille:** I already sent you a PM in reply, but thanks again for pointing that out, I'll try to improve for the future. Thanks for trying out this story :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** I hope this chapter was satisfactory! I've been planning this fight for ages :) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Discombobulated:** I'm so glad you caught that part XD I wanted her to say that she didn't like him, because Mikaela hasn't really thought about it, but I still wanted to leave it open to future possibilities, if that makes sense. I'm so glad you're enjoying everything so far, your compliments make me so happy! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **AttackOnNacho:** I absolutely love fleshing out Kageyama and Tsukishima, and I'm so glad that you love it too! I find that that's the case for a lot of OC stories, I'm glad you think mine didn't go that way. I love your username, by the way ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Lyn:** Aha thank you so much! XD

 **Extra early update in honor of Avengers Endgame coming out today! I've seen it and lemme tell you, it's an epic, wild ride.**

 **I'd love to hear your thoughts. Hopefully this chapter was okay!**


	22. The Aftermath

**Thank you so much to Sayori1412, jungkookies, Anime no Akuma, Shadow Wolf 15846, Curious Kat, jily shiper, PenguinOtaku, SumCheeze, manga. geek. 3, 4everinmydreams, EmilyXaviera, Army-X-7, Emerionla, kuraton97, White Fox1000, kusia2105, dongmeat, EerieMarionette, and Madama Crimson for your lovely support! Thank you!**

* * *

Tsukishima was supposed to have a normal night. He went home from practice; Yamaguchi wanted to stay late, but had promised to come over to his house later to study. They did this often; there shouldn't have been any disruptions in their schedule.

He raised an eyebrow at the ringing phone on his desk.

Sometimes, Yamaguchi would run late, or he'd stop by his own house before heading over to Tsukishima's place. But if that was the case, it was always a text, never a call. Why would Yamaguchi be calling him?

Tsukishima sighed and picked up the phone, sliding his finger over the green button. "What, Yamaguchi?"

 _"Oh my god- Tsukki, oh thank god, I need help-"_

If that wasn't enough of an indication that this was some sort of emergency, Tsukishima didn't know what was. His fingers tightened around the phone and he pressed it closer to his ear. "Yamaguchi, what is it?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.

 _"It's Mikaela!"_

He straightened up. "What about her?"

 _"Oh my god, Tsukki, she's part cyborg, and-"_

"Part cyborg?" the blond repeated, and then it clicked. He sighed and sunk down into his seat- Yamaguchi had seen her prosthetic leg. So it wasn't an emergency after all; Yamaguchi just finally saw what Mikaela had been hiding for the past few months. "Calm down, Yamaguchi. Is that it?"

 _"Is that- What'd you mean, is that it?"_ Yamaguchi had never sounded so genuinely panicked that Tsukishima couldn't help but be a bit concerned. _"Tsukki, she's bleeding, she just fainted in front of me, she's got a metal foot, her other foot looks like it was mauled by a dog, she-"_

"Wait, what?"

 _"I'm on the road to your house, she came storming out of a house on the street and collapsed,"_ he babbled, the confusion in his voice understandable. _"I tried to call Kageyama, but he didn't pick up, he's still at practice, so I called you-"_

Tsukishima grabbed his jacket from its hook, tucking the phone between his ear and his shoulder so he could still talk and have his hands free. It sounded like she may have been at her house: Mikaela's house was on the way from the Karasuno gym to his place. "Yamaguchi, hold on," he said, nearly tipping his glasses off his face by accident.

 _"Tsukki, I don't know what to do!"_

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Tsukishima promised, sliding his shoes on.

 _"Please hurry!"_

He could make out his brother calling for him.

"Kei? What's-"

He was already out the door.

* * *

Tsukishima didn't run. But it was definitely a fast jog.

(And he would deny it when Yamaguchi brought it up later.)

He had way too many questions going through his head to actually sort them out properly. How did Yamaguchi find out about Mikaela's prosthetic? From his panicked tone, she probably didn't tell him. She fainted? What was she doing? Why did Yamaguchi say there was blood? Why did he say that her foot looked like it had been _mauled_ by a dog?

He didn't really remember what house was hers. All he remembered was that they walked the same route to get home. Yamaguchi hadn't specifically said that Mikaela had come out of her own house, but it was the most logical guess. If he just retraced his steps... Yes, he should come across them, even if they weren't directly in front of her house. He'd find them. Or he'd just call Yamaguchi back.

Tsukishima rounded a corner and saw two figures hunched over on the street. Some of the tension in his shoulders released, but he didn't allow himself to completely relax- Yamaguchi had said something about blood. Yamaguchi was kneeling on the pavement, and Mikaela was seated next to him, one hand on her temple. Yamaguchi had a hand on her back, apparently steadying her.

When he got closer, he realized how Yamaguchi had discovered her prosthetic: she was barefoot.

What shocked him wasn't her prosthetic, because he'd seen that before: it was the nasty red scars that swirled around her other foot, dancing around her ankle and up her calf, to where they were hidden by her clothing. Tsukishima felt sick to the stomach the closer he got; her left foot had more scars that actual skin, and it looked like she was missing a part of her big toe. Some parts of her ankle and around her heel were a blistering dark red, close to black. There was also an ugly, red scar that ran from her pinky toe to the top of her foot.

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi called out, his voice panicked. He raised a hand, waving him over.

Tsukishima skidded to a stop, immediately crouching down and trying to get a grasp of the situation. Mikaela's head was tucked into her chest and her breathing was slow, and there was blood running down her face from a cut on her forehead. Her eyes were squeezed shut.

"Shit," he growled through his teeth. "Mikaela. Hey, Mikaela!"

The black-haired girl lifted her head wearily. Her dark blue eyes were rimmed with red. "Tsu... Tsuki-"

"What happened?"

She didn't answer. Mikaela shook her head back and forth before letting it drop again, her chin tucking into her chest. "S'okay, Kaela," the pinch server said, rubbing his hand across her back. "Deep breaths." Mikaela pulled her knees up to her chest, and Yamaguchi shifted closer to her. "Tsukki," he hissed through his teeth, "I think she just had a panic attack or something."

Tsukishima blinked. "A what?"

Yamaguchi shrugged helplessly. "She just collapsed, and I thought she fainted, but she didn't- it looked like she was hyperventilating or something. I didn't know what to do so I've been trying to calm her down." He bit his lip, worried. "Tsukki... What the hell happened to her feet? Her legs? She's..."

God, if he even looked at her foot one more time, he'd be sick. He shook his head, knowing the answer but unwilling to share.

His best friend nodded slowly. "So what do we do?"

"Which house did she come out of?" Tsukishima asked, and Yamaguchi gestured behind him to one of the houses along the side of the street. Yes, that one vaguely reminded him of the house that he recalled her heading towards after walking home together. "Did you check if anyone's home? We could get her parents-"

"No."

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi both looked down in surprise. Mikaela hadn't said much since Tsukishima had arrived- hadn't even managed his name, actually- but her statement was so definitive and firm that they were both taken aback. "What?" Yamaguchi asked.

"No," she repeated, tilting her head up to survey them both. "Don't... Don't get my mom."

"Your mom," Tsukishima said slowly. "What about your dad?"

Mikaela ducked her head, shaking it quickly. To Tsukishima's dismay, she started crying, and it looked like it wasn't the first time today. "Whoa, whoa, Kaela," Yamaguchi said quickly, shifting closer to her and rubbing a hand on her back. He looked up to Tsukishima and waved a hand across his throat, a clear sign of _don't bring that up._ "Breathe," he instructed quietly. "Tsukki, your place is closest."

Tsukishima nearly groaned. That was the _last_ place he wanted to bring her, but... No, his opinion didn't matter at the moment. Mikaela was hurt and she was crying, and she was the priority.

"Yeah," he agreed softly, adjusting his glasses. "Akiteru's home but not my parents. He can help out."

"Okay, sounds good," Yamaguchi replied, hunching himself a bit closer to their manager. "Hey, Kaela, we're going to get you somewhere safe, okay? Just..." he trailed off, shrugging helplessly. "Okay?" he finished lamely.

She didn't respond.

Tsukishima resisted the urge to grab her shoulders and shake her; she definitely didn't seem like she was in the right mental place for that. "Mikaela," he said quietly. "You don't have to do much, okay? Just lean on Yamaguchi and I."

Mikaela didn't move. Then, ever so slowly, she nodded.

Well, at least she was a bit responsive. "Alright," Tsukishima said, shifting closer to Mikaela's left side. "Yamaguchi, you've got her right side. We're going to prop her up. She's responsive, so she'll probably walk if we support her."

"Are you sure?" he asked, concern flashing through her eyes.

"No," the blond admitted, nearly biting his tongue. "But we can't just leave her here."

"R- Right," Yamaguchi stammered, pushing himself next to Mikaela's right. Tsukishima saw his friend's eyes trail down to Mikaela's legs, one of which was a machine and the other of which was burned to a point of no return. Tsukishima swallowed the bile that was building in his throat and took Mikaela's arm, resting it around his shoulders. Yamaguchi did the same.

Together, they pushed themselves to their feet, hoisting Mikaela's body up with them. Tsukishima grunted, shifting her arm slightly. Yamaguchi wrapped his other arm around her waist, trying to steady her. "Come on, Kaela," Yamaguchi encouraged softly, glancing at Tsukishima worriedly. "We're just going to Tsukki's house. It'll be about three minutes. Walk with us?"

Mikaela didn't reply, but she started to walk. Tsukishima carefully kept pace with her, trying to watch for any other injuries. No, it just seemed to be her head. They had a first aid kit at home, didn't they?

What the hell had even happened to her? Yes, he'd seen her on the verge of tears when she told him about her prosthetic, and she'd cried when her legs had cramped up at the side of the road at the training camp. But this was completely different. Mikaela looked like someone had just stolen a part of her, or something inside of her had died. The way that she wouldn't speak really set off something in him- in all the time he'd known her, she'd always had some sort of comeback or smart remark, and even when she didn't, she managed to say _something._

 _What the hell is going on with you?_

It took about four or five minutes to get to Tsukishima's place. Normally, it would've taken three minutes. But the fastest that they could go was an exaggerated shuffle, and Tsukishima didn't dare try and go faster. He still didn't know the entirety of what happened, and it didn't look like Mikaela was going to tell them.

They made it to the front door, and Tsukishima fumbled with the doorknob before managing to shove the door open. "Living room," he grunted, and Yamaguchi understood immediately, guiding Mikaela towards the couch in the main room. Yamaguchi took her full weight, and Tsukishima straightened up, relieved that the pressure was lifted from his shoulders.

"Kei! There you are. Where'd you go?" His brother left his own room to greet him in the hallway.

Tsukishima didn't care for his questions. "I need the first aid kit. Where is it?"

"Bathroom, under the sink," Akiteru replied without missing a beat. "Are you hurt?"

"Not me," he said through gritted teeth, pushing past his brother. "Yamaguchi's in the living room, he'll fill you in."

Akiteru's mouth fell open. "Yamaguchi? Is he okay?" Tsukishima didn't look behind him, instead stepping into the bathroom and opening the cupboard, his eyes landing on the first aid kit tucked away in the back. His hand closed around the handle and he tugged it out, sending a few stray containers flying.

Tsukishima turned back towards the living room, moving as fast as his feet would carry him. Yamaguchi was sitting next to Mikaela on the couch, already holding tissues up to Mikaela's forehead and trying to staunch the blood flow. Akiteru was kneeling in front of the couch, clutching a box of tissues in his hand. Mikaela's eyes were trained on the floor, but she was holding a hand up to her temple, pressing the material against her cut. Tsukishima sat himself down on a stool across from the couch, plunking the first aid kit down on the closest table.

"Anyone want to tell me what's going on here?" Akiteru asked.

He was answered with silence.

"Okay, fine then, who's she?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Tsukishima.

"She's the manager for our volleyball team," Yamaguchi replied softly, trying to clean up some of the blood that had run down the side of her face. "This is Mikaela."

"Mikaela," Akiteru repeated. "Foreign? She looks Japanese."

"Her father's American or something," Tsukishima grumbled. He nearly missed how Mikaela stiffened when he mentioned her father. _It's got something to do with her dad, then._ "You know as much as we do. Yamaguchi found her like this on the road. We've got no idea what happened."

Akiteru pondered this for a moment before he said, "I assume she's not answering you, then."

The boys shook their heads. Tsukishima pursed his lips, trying to ignore the worried look that Yamaguchi was sending him.

"Mom'll be home soon," his brother said quietly. "I'll call her. I don't think..." He shook his head. "I'll tell her what's going on."

Tsukishima reached into his pocket for his phone as his brother stood up, heading towards the kitchen. "Yamaguchi, you have Kageyama's phone number, right?" he asked, and the pinch server nodded quickly. "If anyone'll be able to talk to her, it's him."

"Yeah, one sec," he murmured, fishing through his pocket for his phone. When he got his hands on it, he opened it and scrolled through his contacts, then held the phone up for Tsukishima to see. "Here."

"Can you finish cleaning her forehead up?" Tsukishima asked. "I'll call him."

"Yeah, Tsukki. Just call him. Maybe he'll know what's going on."

He copied the number from Yamaguchi's phone into his own, then hit the call button. He waited, but the call went to voicemail. He groaned inwardly and tried again. As the phone was ringing, Yamaguchi spoke up. "Hey, Tsukki?"

"What?"

"Uh... Her foot."

"What about it?"

"Did you know about it?"

The call went to voicemail again. Tsukishima dialed the number again. "Yeah," he replied after a moment's hesitation. "Found out by accident, though."

"Oh. Okay." Yamaguchi went quiet again.

"It's not like she didn't want to tell you," Tsukishima said quietly, already knowing what was getting Yamaguchi down. "I think she wanted to, but..." He shrugged. Tsukishima nearly threw his phone at the floor when the call went to voicemail for a third time. He dialed the number for a fourth time, squeezing the phone hard enough to break it if it were a different material.

"Ah. Okay." Yamaguchi paused. "But that doesn't matter right now," he added, a determined expression crossing his face. "We just have to make sure she's alright."

"I'm okay."

Tsukishima jerked his head up. Mikaela was still staring at the floor, but her shoulders were rising and falling as she tried to take deep breaths. She was actively trying to get herself under control, from what he could tell. "Kaela? You sure?" Yamaguchi asked, his arm tight around her back.

"Yeah, sorry," she said weakly, shaking her head. She pulled the tissue away from her face, stained red with blood. "I'll be good in a minute, then I'll get out of your way."

"You'll leave?" Tsukishima said, surprised. "No way."

Finally, she tilted her head up to meet Tsukishima's eyes. Her dark blue eyes were rimmed with red. "Why?" Mikaela asked quietly. "I don't want to bother you."

"We've got no idea what happened to you," he said firmly, "and you're not leaving until we get an explanation." Yamaguchi raised his eyebrows at him. This was very assertive, even for Tsukishima. The blond was about to add something when the call went through on his phone.

 _"Hello? Who is this?"_

Tsukishima had the phone up and by his ear in a flash. He turned away from Mikaela and Yamaguchi, facing the side wall. "Kageyama, you moron, answer your phone more often."

 _"Tsukishima? You're the one that's been calling me?"_ The setter sounded irritated- maybe they'd interrupted him during practice. Was he actually still at the gym? Tsukishima shook his head, of course he'd still be at the gym. _"What'd you want?"_

"It's your cousin."

 _"Kaisha? Is she okay?"_ Suddenly, all that irritation completely vanished, replaced by concern.

Tsukishima huffed, glancing back to Mikaela, who was leaning into Yamaguchi and glaring at the floor, blinking rapidly. "No, not at all," he replied. "Yamaguchi found her in the middle of the road, completely shaken up. She wouldn't even talk to us. She was bleeding too, but we've got that taken care of."

 _"What?"_ Kageyama yelled, and Tsukishima pulled the phone away from his ear. _"What happened?"_

"Don't yell, your Majesty," he said with a scowl. "We were hoping you'd know. She won't tell us."

Kageyama cursed colorfully, and Tsukishima was impressed. He didn't think the King had that sort of vocabulary. _"Where are you guys?"_

"At my place," Tsukishima replied. "She didn't want to go home, and my place was closest."

 _"She didn't want to go home?"_

"Nope. Nearly clawed my face when I suggested it."

 _"Why would she..."_ There was a pause. _"Oh, shit."_

Tsukishima straightened up. "You know why?"

 _"I've got an idea,"_ he said gruffly. _"I'm on my way. I'll see you soon."_

"Do you even know where I live, moron?"

There was a lengthy pause on the other end of the line before Kageyama responded, _"where?"_

"Go straight past her place to the next road, turn right, follow the road down until you hit the end, turn left, and my house is the third on the right," he reported, glancing back to Yamaguchi, who had shifted slightly away from Mikaela so that she had a bit more space. "Just come inside when you get here."

 _"Okay."_ The silence that followed was awkward, and Tsukishima was about to hang up when he heard Kageyama cough on the other end. _"Thanks."_

"Don't thank me. That's weird. Just hurry up and get here."

 _"Fine."_

Kageyama hung up, and Tsukishima was left wondering whether he'd get lost or not. He certainly didn't put it past the gullible setter. "Kageyama's on his way," he said, twisting his body on the stool so that he faced the pair once again. "I'd give him maybe five minutes, probably less."

Akiteru popped his head in from the kitchen. "Just got off the phone with Mom. She'll be here soon, maybe ten minutes."

"I'm sorry," Mikaela said quickly, trying not to meet anyone's eyes. "I don't want... I don't want to bother anyone. I'm sorry."

Yamaguchi shook his head. "Mikaela, you're not bothering anyone," he said gently, his hand on her back. "We just want to make sure you're okay. Right, Tsukki?" he added, turning to the blond.

Tsukishima scoffed, "Yeah. Sure."

She smiled weakly. "Well, I'm fine-"

"What in the name of- What the hell? What happened to your feet?"

The trio turned to face Akiteru, who looked like he had seen a ghost. His eyes were locked on Mikaela's bare feet, one of which was red and blistered and the other of which was a prosthetic. "You just noticed?" Tsukishima said dryly.

Akiteru glared at him. "Well, excuse me for not looking at her feet immediately."

"I..." Mikaela trailed off, her throat seeming to close up on her. Yamaguchi was next to her right away, murmuring that she didn't have to explain anything, but she shook her head. "It's a prosthetic," she said, her voice dangerously close to a wheeze. "From an accident."

"A fake foot?" Akiteru asked in disbelief.

"Fake leg," Tsukishima corrected.

"You knew?"

He shrugged. "Yeah."

Akiteru shook his head, still trying to comprehend the situation. "Is that same accident what happened to your other foot?" Mikaela nodded shakily. "God, what kind of accident was that bad?"

She looked like she wanted to reply, but Tsukishima nudged her with his hand. "Hey, don't push yourself," he warned. "You're enough of a wreck as is."

"Tsukki!" Yamaguchi hissed through his teeth.

Mikaela, to his surprise, smiled wryly. "Thanks," she croaked, tucking her knees up to her chest. "Thank you guys." She wrapped her arms around her knees, locking them securely to her chest, and exhaled slowly. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been there."

Yamaguchi beamed. "Anytime, Kaela. You know you can talk to us anytime, right?"

"R- Right," she stammered, trying to force a smile in return.

Akiteru nudged Tsukishima with his foot, and the blond turned to look up at his brother. "What should we tell Mom?" he asked quietly. "I mean, she'll know way more about this first aid stuff than we do, but what can we tell her?"

Tsukishima shrugged. "Like I said, you know as much as I do. Wait until Kageyama gets here."

"Okay," he said quietly, shaking his head. "Geez, Kei, just when I thought you don't make friends, you show up here with one, and not only that, but it's a girl."

"We're not friends," Tsukishima and Mikaela said in unison.

Yamaguchi and Akiteru both laughed, although it was more of a weak chuckle. "Right," Akiteru said with a roll of his eyes. "You're not friends. That's it." There was a knock at the door, and Akiteru shifted around them to go answer it. "I got it," he called, swinging the door open.

On the doorstep stood none other than Kageyama Tobio, panting like he had just run a marathon. "Wrong house," the setter said quickly, already turning away.

"No, right house," Tsukishima called from the living room. The setter poked his head inside and finally took notice of the trio seated in the living room. Kageyama moved so fast that Tsukishima would've missed it if he blinked: he tore off his shoes, tossed his bag to the side, and was kneeling in front of Mikaela in an instant, taking hold of her hands. "Yes, you can come in," Tsukishima grumbled to no one.

"Kai," Kageyama said quickly, his eyes searching her face and landing on the scar on her forehead. "What happened?"

Mikaela made a noise that sounded strangely like a whimper. "Tobio," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "Kags, I-"

Kageyama wasted no time. He pulled Mikaela towards him, wrapping her in a hug, and squeezing hard enough that it looked like he'd snap Mikaela in two. Tsukishima was surprised; he'd never seen the King show any signs of affection whatsoever. But it seemed to work, because Mikaela melted into the hug, and her shoulders started shaking. She was probably crying.

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi exchanged a glance from behind the cousins, who seemed to forget there were other people in the room than just them. "I'll leave you guys for a bit," Akiteru murmured, tapping Tsukishima on the shoulder. "I'll go wait outside for Mom." Tsukishima nodded at him, and his older brother gave him a sympathetic smile before leaving through the front door, closing it quietly behind him.

Kageyama finally pulled back, grabbing Mikaela's hands. "Was it like last time?" he asked quietly.

 _Last time? What the hell does that mean?_

Mikaela nodded, tears running down her cheeks. Tsukishima didn't miss how Kageyama's grip tightened on her wrists or how he grit his teeth. Clearly, 'last time' was not a good thing. "You can stay at my place," he insisted immediately.

"Kags," she whispered, and Tsukishima nearly caved when he saw how broken she looked. "The things she said..."

 _Who's 'she'?_

"Kaela," Yamaguchi said softly, "Tsukishima and I can leave if you want some privacy-"

"Dad died," Mikaela blurted out.

That was enough to stop Yamaguchi in his tracks. Tsukishima was pretty sure he heard her wrong- did she just say that her dad died? Kageyama, apparently, was hoping the same thing that Tsukishima was. "He what?" the setter whispered, his eyes wide. "He's..."

Mikaela nodded, then broke into sobs. Kageyama pulled her back towards him, wrapping his arms around her back and settling his head next to hers. Tsukishima's jaw dropped open, and he didn't even have to meet Yamaguchi's eyes to know that he was equally shocked. Kageyama didn't say anything, but he was blinking back tears. It took a second for the information to sink in, and when it did, Tsukishima realized that Mikaela's father meant Kageyama's uncle. Kageyama was grieving too.

Tsukishima had never seen Kageyama show much emotion, but he supposed a situation like this warranted a few tears. He pursed his lips, making a mental note not to tease either of them about it.

A death in the family was one thing. Tsukishima's uncle had passed away from cancer a few years back, but he hadn't known him overly well. But Mikaela's father? The only thing he knew about her father was that the two of them were close, based on her phone call back at the training camp. Kageyama had mentioned that he'd worked a lot, but that was it.

Mikaela had seemed fine at practice, until she'd left. Had she just found out? But that didn't explain the cut on her forehead.

"Mom- Mom told me," she said between sobs, her words muffled. "He- He- He's d- dead, and we f- fought, and she- she-" Mikaela inhaled sharply, trying to collect herself. "She hit me," she breathed, "and I hit my h- head off the shelf, and- and she yelled, and t- told me to get out, and..."

"She _what?"_ Tsukishima snapped, but Mikaela was clearly done speaking. She curled in on herself, appearing smaller than he'd ever seen her. She was still sobbing, from the sound of it. Kageyama clutched her tighter, rocking back and forth, not daring to say a word. "She-"

"Tsukki."

He turned to see that Yamaguchi had shifted closer to him and settled a hand on his forearm. He shook his head slowly, his eyes filled with grief. Tsukishima clenched his hands into fists but didn't say anything else. "I can't believe..."

"I know," Yamaguchi murmured, his voice nearly cracking. "I know."

 _What kind of burden is she carrying?_

Tsukishima had no idea what to do. He'd never been put in a situation like this, nor had he ever met anyone in a situation similar to Mikaela's. Hell, he doubted anyone would be in a situation like hers: dead father, abusive mother, prosthetic leg? Yeah, probably not.

 _What the hell do I do?_

No one moved, for at least two or three minutes. Mikaela's crying eventually slowed down, but she was still shivering, and it was clear Kageyama had no real intention of letting her go anytime soon. The setter had effectively held back his tears, but the haunted look on his face was enough of a sign that he was nowhere near over it just yet.

"God," Tsukishima whispered, leaning backwards.

Yamaguchi nodded in agreement, the expression on his face betraying how worried he felt.

"Kaisha," Kageyama murmured, his voice dark, "you can live with me."

Mikaela pulled back slightly, giving Tsukishima a view of her face. Her eyes were so red that he couldn't even see the blue in them anymore, her hair was disheveled, and her cheeks were stained with tears. She shook her head. "Your mom would tell my mom," she said, her voice empty.

Yamaguchi shifted towards them. "Kaela?" he whispered, and the dark-haired girl turned to meet his gaze. "Can I hug you?"

She nodded, and Yamaguchi shifted forwards, pulling Mikaela into his arms. She sniffled, burying her face in his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his waist. Yamaguchi and Kageyama made eye contact, and something passed between them, though Tsukishima had no idea what it was.

"Kei." He glanced up at the front door. Akiteru was waving to him. "Mom's home."

"I'll be out in a second." Akiteru nodded, his gaze shifting to the other three in their living room, but Tsukishima glared at him, and he nodded in understanding and left. Tsukishima stood up and took a deep breath, turning towards Mikaela. "My mother's home," he said quietly, causing Kageyama to turn and glance up at him. "She'll know what to do about that cut on her forehead. How much..." he trailed off, trying to figure out how best to phrase his question. "How much can I tell her?"

Kageyama glanced back to Mikaela and Yamaguchi, who were still locked in a tight hug. He rubbed at his eyes, which were red from tears that never fell. "Maybe not the hitting part," he replied awkwardly, glancing back at his cousin. "Just that she can't go home."

Tsukishima nodded. "Alright."

He was almost out the door when Kageyama called back for him. "Hey, Tsukishima."

"What?"

"Thank you," Kageyama said honestly, rubbing the back of his head. "For..."

The blond shrugged, a silent message that he understood what Kageyama was implying. Kageyama nodded awkwardly and turned back to his cousin, who was still shaking. Tsukishima watched Kageyama take her hand and squeeze it, and he watched Mikaela's fingers curl around the side of Kageyama's palm. He turned and moved to leave, slipping his shoes on and quietly shutting the door behind him.

Tsukishima didn't know what to think about Mikaela Kaisha anymore.

* * *

 **This was a hard chapter to write. One of the hardest I've written to date.**

 **A few years back, a friend of mine confessed to me that he was abused at home. I took it about as well as Tsukishima and Yamaguchi did: plenty of shock and repeated choruses of 'oh my god oh my god what the heck' in my head. Everyone reacts differently, so if you've experienced a similar situation, it might look different than what I've described.**

 **I hope I did okay. This was hard, and rereading / editing it was harder.**

 **PenguinOtaku:** Yeah... Sorry about that ;) But this chapter is also very long compared to my standard so hopefully this helps. Thank you for your review! :)

 **SumCheeze:** Aha thank you so much! Yes the boys are going to become pillars of support for her because lemme tell you Mikaela's going through a lot of crap right now! I think that was the most downhill it's ever going to get, though, so hopefully the future isn't quite as bad ;) Thank you kindly for your review! :)

 **Anime no Akuma:** Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **jungkookies:** Yeah, her mother's not only being a mega bitch, but she's also very convinced that she's doing the right thing, which is even worse. I've been wondering how I can incorporate Kahano into this without it being forced... We'll see. Thank you very much for your review! :)

 **manga. geek. 3:** Try to make sure Mikaela's mother reacts appropriately is hard. I always have a tough time with measuring whether there's too much anger in the scene or not enough. But thank you for your review! Much appreciated! :)

 **Sayori1412:** I feel like Tsukishima finding her would've been too obvious or forced. I didn't really want people saying 'oh, of COURSE it was Tsukishima' so I altered it a little bit and personally I'm happy with how this chapter came out, and hopefully you are too :) Lots of Tsukishima/Mikaela interaction! Next chapter too :) Thank you as always for your wonderful review! :)

 **jily shiper:** Your grammar is hilarious, for one thing, and I'm enjoying PMing you, so all I'm going to say is that Avengers: Endgame absolutely destroyed me and I'm very thankful for your review :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **4everinmydreams:** Aww thank you so much! You're so sweet, thank you! I'm so glad you like my OC and the storyline! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Curious Kat:** It always makes me happy to see people who don't normally review a lot post a review on my story :) Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying it! :)

 **Over 10k views? Thank you all so much, you all make me so happy :D**

 **See y'all next week! Don't worry, it gets a bit lighter after this :)**


	23. The Process

**Thank you very much to Shadow Wolf 15846, SippyCup, Lady Syndra, LolieMila, Daughter of the Oceans, SumCheeze, Sayori1412, jily shiper, SociallyAwkwardHumanBeing, 4everinmydreams, ArtisticNerd, EerieMarionette, CrystalKnightwalker, Padgent, Veloxi, Anika356, shika93, becky157689, Kiyoshi Kozue, Zoreux, AoiAi, Nea-Nyx, and lek99 for your support! Thank you all so so much!**

* * *

Everything was blurry: her vision, her memories, her senses, her understanding of the situation.

If Mikaela was completely honest with herself, she hadn't really noticed that Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were still in hearing distance when she had blurted out that her mother had hit her. She had been decently aware of her surroundings when she mentioned that her dad had died, and a part of her was okay with the two other boys knowing, because she knew that they'd both care in their own way and they wouldn't go telling people. She was okay with that.

She didn't know how she felt about them knowing the abuse part.

Sure, Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were among some of the people she trusted most (not that she had a long list) but this was still a heavy topic that she'd rather not talk about. And it had only happened twice. It was just because the emotions were high. She'd be okay next time, right?

Kageyama hadn't let go of her once since he'd gotten there. Whether it had been holding her hand, or hugging her, or just pressing his shoulder to hers, he was there. It meant more to Mikaela than words could explain: he was a safe haven, someone that made her feel safe no matter what.

She vaguely noticed Tsukishima ducking out of the room. Now, she was clinging to Yamaguchi like a lifeline. Kageyama was holding her hand. She felt safe.

 _Safe._

Was it possible to be safe with her mother in a world without her father?

A fresh wave of tears sprang to her eyes and Mikaela squeezed them shut, unwilling to let anymore fall. She almost couldn't believe it. Her father, her pillar of support, her escape from her mother, her saving grace, was gone. Just like that.

Kageyama seemed to notice that she was distressed because he squeezed her hand lightly. She didn't have the energy to squeeze back.

Mikaela didn't even hear the door open again, but the sound of footsteps was enough to make her stir, lifting her head up from Yamaguchi's shoulder. She made out the figures of Tsukishima and his older brother, and a young woman who was shorter than the two boys but had a similar facial structure and hair colour. She held herself in such a way that Mikaela could see she commanded respect, but not in the same way her mother did. This woman's posture suggested a softer version of command.

"Hello," she said softly, squatting down next to the couch. Mikaela shrank back slightly, and Yamaguchi loosened his hold, letting go of her and letting his arms fall to his sides. Kageyama immediately shifted next to her, pressing his shoulder to hers. "You must be Mikaela. I'm Tsukishima Ayano, Kei and Akiteru's mother."

Mikaela nodded slowly, trying to regulate her breathing.

"Can I take a look at your forehead?"

Her breath hitched in her throat. Kageyama was still clutching her hand. "Sure," she managed, sweeping her messy bangs out of her eyes with her free hand.

Tsukishima's mother pursed her lips and leaned forwards, reaching a hand out towards her. "Are you alright if I touch it?" she questioned, and Mikaela nodded. Her cool hand skimmed over the bloody scar, nearly giving Mikaela goosebumps. "I doubt you'll need stitches," she murmured, leaning back. "I'll just clean it up a bit and then we'll put a bandage on. Is that okay with you, Mikaela?"

"Yes, thank you, Tsukishima-san," Mikaela murmured, nearly biting her lip.

She smiled in return. "You can call me Ayano, if you'd prefer." She reached for the first aid kit and started hunting through it for what she needed. The room was eerily quiet, the only sound being Mikaela's heartbeat as it drummed loudly in her rib cage.

 _I'm safe here,_ she told herself.

 _I'm safe._

 _I'm safe._

 _I'm-_

Mikaela flinched as the careful set of hands that had been working across her forehead gently touched her jaw. She had had her eyes closed and hadn't expected it, and the touch was so sudden that it was enough to send her heart rate skyrocketing.

"I'm sorry," Ayano quipped, backing away. "Sorry, dear, you've just got a bit of bruising."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," she said sternly, her expression firm but not quite a glare. Almost as if she knew Mikaela's situation, she added, "you've got nothing to apologize for."

Mikaela's eyes jerked to Tsukishima, who was standing to Yamaguchi's side and carefully observing his mother as she worked. His eyes met hers and she summoned the internal strength to not immediately look away. But it didn't last, and eventually, she looked back to the ground, unable to hold his gaze.

"Almost done," Ayano hummed softly, unwrapping a roll of white bandages. "Now, you're more than welcome to stay here for the night."

The manager nearly let her jaw drop in surprise. "N- No, that's alright, I don't want to intrude," she stammered. The idea of staying at Tsukishima's house overnight, while not entirely uncomfortable, was daunting and a bit awkward. She met the blond's eyes again and he shrugged as if to say he didn't care, but the way he turned away from her and fiddled with his fingers suggested something else.

"Nonsense," Tsukishima's mother said, giving her a stern look the resembled her son's. Mikaela nearly smiled from the resemblance. Her hands moved towards Mikaela's forehead, pressing the white bandage over the cut. "I'm not entirely sure what your home situation is, but Kei has told me that it's not safe for you at home. Our house is open, as long as you're comfortable sleeping on the couch," she said with a chuckle, indicating with her free hand the couch that Mikaela was currently seated on.

Her mouth went dry. This woman had no idea who she was- why would she offer her home for the night?

"She can stay with me," Kageyama added, squeezing Mikaela's hand to remind her that he was still there. She squeezed back, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"I'm sure that's probably a better arrangement than what we could provide," Ayano said, smiling at Kageyama, "but I'm not sure that Mikaela's in the best mental state to do anything except sleep right now. How far is your house?"

"A fifteen minute walk," the setter said. His face fell. "Oh. Yeah."

"Kageyama, I would," Mikaela croaked. She smiled weakly. "I don't even know if I could stand up without getting dizzy. But if it's easier for me to go to his place, I will."

"No one's forcing you to leave," Ayano said gently. "I'd rather you stay and know that you're safe here."

Mikaela turned to her cousin. Kageyama sighed and nodded, putting his other hand on top of hers, sandwiching her hand between his. "It's fine," he said quietly, though the doubt in his eyes gave away his true feelings. "Just stay here. Tomorrow you can come to my place. Besides, Mom's heading out tomorrow for a week and Dad's not coming home until Tuesday."

 _He'd rather have me at his place, but he's putting aside his feelings so I won't feel bad about staying._ Mikaela bit her lip and leaned towards him, nudging him with her shoulder. "Thanks, Kags."

He shrugged, nudging her back.

"Wonderful," Tsukishima's mother said with a soft smile. "It's not that late, but I'm sure you're exhausted." The clock behind her read 7:28 pm. Mikaela blinked, trying to verify if that time was correct- it felt like it should be around midnight. "Do you need anything?"

She shook her head. Tsukishima took this as his cue to wander off, and his older brother followed. Suddenly, a thought flashed through Mikaela's mind and she twisted to face Kageyama, panicked. "Tobio! My meds. Oh my god, my medication is at home, I need that, I-"

Kageyama took both her hands in his and glared lightly. "Oi, calm down. I'll get them. You took them already tonight, right?" She nodded slowly. "See, you're fine. I'll go to your place and grab them. Where is it?"

"My room, in my bag," she whispered. "My phone's there too. You can get in through my window."

He nodded firmly, his mission set in his mind. "I'll go get that, then, and I'll be right back. I promise."

"Okay," Mikaela said, nodding to herself in reassurance. "Okay."

Kageyama stood up, waiting until the last possible second to let go of her hands. Yamaguchi stood up, moving towards the door along with Kageyama. "I'll be back in ten minutes," he said firmly, leaving no room for discussion. Yamaguchi leaned towards the setter, whispering something that Mikaela couldn't catch. Kageyama frowned, a puzzled expression crossing his face, before replying, quiet enough that she still couldn't hear. The door opened and closed, and Kageyama was gone.

"Here."

Mikaela jerked out of her haze to look to Tsukishima, who was crouched in front of her, holding a glass of water out to her. "Eh?" she said tiredly.

He rolled his eyes. "You're as pale as a ghost. Take it."

She accepted the glass, taking a quick sip, then proceeded to drain the whole glass. _I guess I'm more dehydrated than I thought I was._ She choked on her last gulp, and Yamaguchi zipped to her side immediately, patting her on the back as she coughed.

"Take it easy, Kaela," the pinch server said worriedly. "You need to rest."

Akiteru returned to the room, holding a large folded blanket in his arms with a pillow balanced on top. "Here, I hope this is okay," he said, and before Mikaela could assure him that it was plenty, Tsukishima had taken the blanket and pillow from his older brother. Akiteru left, casting one last glance on the trio before retreating to somewhere else in the house.

"You... Uh, you feeling okay?" Yamaguchi asked softly.

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah," she said unconvincingly. "I'm fine."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, his lips twisting into a scowl. When he was crouched down, he was the same height as her, so Mikaela had no problem seeing how much he was glaring at her. "We're not idiots, Mikaela," he said quietly, his glare softening slightly. "Don't pretend we are." His gaze shifted, trailing across her face and to her jaw. "You're bruising," he pointed out, and to Mikaela's surprise, he reached up and tapped her jaw with cold fingertips.

It stung slightly from the bruise, but the coolness from his fingers soothed the pain in her cheek. Without thinking about it, Mikaela brought her hand up to Tsukishima's, holding his fingers against her jaw in an effort to preserve the icy feeling across her cheek.

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow but didn't move his hand, instead letting it rest against her cheek with her hand on top of his. It was weird- despite the cooling sensation from his hand, Mikaela felt her face heating up.

"Uh... Do you want me to leave?"

The blond snapped his hand back and Mikaela dropped her hand to her side. Yamaguchi was staring at the two of them with a puzzled expression on his face, like he was surprised they had any sort of contact that didn't involve some sort of aggression. "No," she said quickly, shaking her head. "Sorry. His hands are cold."

Yamaguchi raised his eyebrows to her, like he didn't understand how that explained anything, but Tsukishima stood up fast enough that he nearly knocked over the empty glass on the nearby table. "I'll grab you some ice," he said quickly, turning away from her and taking off for the kitchen.

She listened to his receding footsteps, then turned to Yamaguchi and tried to smile. "Thanks for everything, Yamaguchi," she murmured, her facial muscles failing on her and letting her attempt at a smile drop faster than she would've liked. "When I'm not as tired, I'll tell you what happened with my leg."

"Get some sleep, Kaela," Yamaguchi said, flashing her a large smile. He set the pillow down on the armrest of the couch and stood up, giving her room to lay down. "Here's the blanket. I hope you sleep."

She sighed. "Me too, Yams. Me too."

Mikaela lay down, pulling the blanket over top of herself, snuggling into it. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail, wrapping her hair elastic around her wrist. _I don't know if I'll ever get to sleep,_ she thought. Her father crossed her mind and she bit her lip, trying to avoid crying again.

But by the time Tsukishima returned with an ice pack, she was out like a light.

* * *

 _"Hey, pro. How was school?"_

 _He was standing a few meters in front of her, grinning. His dark hair was a mess. His shirt was untucked._

 _"Mhm, that bad, huh? Want to make dinner with me?"_

 _She tried to move towards him, but with every step she took, he seemed to get further away._

 _"Pizza? Again? Fine, you know I love pizza, pro. What'd you want on it?"_

 _She took another step. And another. And he faded, blurring into the black abyss that surrounds them both. She broke into a run, trying to close the gap between them, not quite understanding that the closer she got, the more he faded away._

 _"Pineapple? What'd you mean, you don't want pineapple?"_

 _She'd never felt so close yet so far._

 _"I love you, kiddo."_

 _She lunged, her fingers grasping at nothing._

 _He was gone._

 _And then she was falling, tumbling through the air into what feels like a bottomless pit, spinning wildly, flailing her arms and trying to reach out for something, anything, but there's nothing, it's all dark-_

* * *

When she woke up from her nightmare, she forgot where she was.

Mikaela had no idea how long she'd been asleep, but when she woke up, the far window indicated that it must've been the middle of the night. This was weird, because Mikaela's home didn't have a window. She blinked rapidly, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the room.

When she could finally see, Mikaela had a blank moment in which she didn't know where she was and she completely panicked.

The dark-haired girl shot up from the couch with a gasp, swinging her legs off the edge and stumbling to her feet. In her haste, she swung her arm out and accidentally knocked over a bag that was on the table next to her. Mikaela stood up, breathing heavily, her eyes darting wildly around the room as she tried to figure out where she was, and why she was here, and-

 _Oh._

The memories flooded back. Being picked up by Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, and taken here. Falling asleep on the couch.

Mikaela inhaled and exhaled shakily, her thoughts still frantic and her head still spinning. She tried to focus on one thing: the clock across from her, which read 11:02 pm. _Crap, I haven't been asleep that long._ The world seems to spin under her feet and Mikaela nearly toppled backwards, dizzied and disoriented.

"You're up?"

She spun so fast that she nearly fell again. Tsukishima was standing at the door to his room, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, his headphones covering his ears. As she gaped at him, he pulled the headphones off, settling them around his neck. "Why're you up?" she rasped, surprised at how dry her throat was.

He shrugged. "Studying. Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Mikaela shook her head. "Can't sleep."

"Want some water?" Tsukishima asked, his voice lowering. She nodded gratefully. He slipped by her, grabbing her empty water glass from the table and letting his headphones rest there instead. Mikaela carefully lowered herself back down to the couch, trying to regulate her breathing.

 _I'm safe._

Tsukishima returned with two cups, one in each hand. He handed one to her, then sat down next to her, holding his own glass between his fingers. "Thank you," she murmured, taking a sip. She tried not to drink too much at once, afraid of choking like she had earlier.

The silence that followed wasn't awkward, surprisingly enough. Mikaela was surprised that he'd sat next to her instead of heading back to his room. Why would he be out here when he could just go back to his room?

"Kageyama dropped off your bag," Tsukishima said eventually, nodding his chin towards the bag that she'd knocked off the table in her panicked frenzy. "He said something about a hoodie in case you're cold."

She shrugged. "I can't even feel the cold right now."

The blond didn't reply, instead bringing the glass to his lips and taking a sip. He didn't drink much, but he set the glass down on the table across from them afterwards. "Mikaela?" he said quietly, and Mikaela hummed to let him know she was listening. He didn't speak right away, so she tilted her head to look at him. He was staring at his shoes, avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah?" she prompted.

He turned to meet her eyes. "What can I do?"

Mikaela frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"To help," Tsukishima clarified, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"Help? Like, help me?" she asked, and he nodded, looking away. Mikaela turned her head back to stare out towards the curtains that were blocking parts of the window. She couldn't think of what to say. She didn't want to think that this was unlike Tsukishima, but he rarely asked questions point blank. Asking her something, in an attempt to help her, was something she hadn't prepared herself for. "I don't know," she said honestly. "I don't..."

He didn't say anything. He picked up his glass again, waiting for her to continue.

"You know," Mikaela said, laughing weakly, "I think I'm stuck dealing with this on my own. Which is weird- not that I'm dealing with it on my own, the fact that it's the first time I don't really want to. I like doing stuff by myself. I don't like bothering people. But this?" Mikaela shook her head, her eyes beginning to burn. "I think this is a bit too much for just me," she said quietly, setting her glass down on the table in front of her.

Tsukishima was good at listening, oddly enough- mostly because he didn't have anything to say. When he did speak, it was because she'd lost her train of thought. "You've got Kageyama," he pointed out.

She nodded. "Yeah, I've always got Kags. But... He's really overprotective sometimes, you know? And he thinks he can fix everything himself. I don't know how much he can do about this one." She blinked, and tears ran down her face. "Shit," Mikaela muttered, wiping at her eyes.

Her statement was met with silence. She sighed, trying to calm her burning eyes and try to avoid more tears. This was Tsukishima, and here she was, crying in front of him for what felt like the millionth time- although she was pretty sure it was only the fourth. _God, it feels like all I ever do is cry._

"Sorry," she muttered.

"For what?"

Mikaela shrugged. "For always crying."

She didn't have to look; she knew Tsukishima was rolling his eyes. "I don't care," he said, but Mikaela couldn't tell whether he was being honest or not. "To be honest, with all the shit going down in your life, I'm surprised you don't cry more."

She chuckled weakly, offering him a lopsided smile. "Thanks, idiot." _That's one hell of a backhanded compliment._

He nudged her with his elbow. "Don't thank me, moron."

"Fine."

And once again, silence. Mikaela used to think she was okay with silence, but now silence led to thinking, and thinking led to stress, and she wasn't in the right place right now to be thinking. It was too late, though: her nightmare already popped back into her head, and she can see her father's face so clearly in her mind. Mikaela squeezed her eyes shut, trying to vanquish the image, but it stayed.

"He's gone," she said suddenly, tears blurring her vision for what felt like the umpteenth time. "He's gone."

Longing for some sort of physical contact, in a desperate desire to not feel so alone, Mikaela abandoned all the caution she had surrounding Tsukishima and leaned towards him, resting her head on his shoulder. It was a horrible idea, and she knew it. Her heart was going a mile a minute. _He's going to shove me off, he's going to scoff at me, he'll-_

But to her surprise, a gentle weight suddenly pressed against her head. It took her a minute to realize that Tsukishima was leaning on her too.

 _Huh._

They were probably like that for all of two minutes before Mikaela fell asleep, but it felt like it could've been hours.

* * *

 **Recently wrote an English in-class essay that was supposed to be 800 words, and I struggled and barely made it to 700 in ninety minutes. Yet here I am, pumping out three thousand words in an hour. The world works in mysterious ways.**

 **4everinmydreams:** No problem, I'm always happy to answer reviews! Kageyama's been a difficult character to write because you're totally right, he's a Grinch. But he's been close with Mikaela since forever and it's been difficult trying to imagine how he'd act, because he's not as close with anyone in the canon universe as he is with Mikaela, so I've got nothing to go off of. I'm glad you think he's still in character :) Thank you so much for your lovely review! :)

 **SociallyAwkwardHumanBeing:** Yeah, I actually kind of forgot until I was revising and realized, 'hey, she was in a fire, wouldn't other parts of her be burned?'. That took me a bit too long to realize XD Thank you so much, you're so sweet! Thank you for your review! :D

 **jily shiper:** TSUKISHIMA IS SO DIFFICULT UGGGGGGH like I want him to care but at the same time he _doesn't_ but he _does_ and I don't know how to show it! UGH. Hopefully this chapter was okay! I'm trying to update consistently because I know there's so many good stories out there that aren't updated or have months between updates. Thank you for your review, I look forward to PMing you ;)

 **Sayori1412:** You're half right ;) I considered it, but it's a lot more realistic for her to stay with Kageyama. I thought one night there would suffice ;) Yeah, the team'll find out next chapter. I was planning to do the injury reveal but then this plot point happened so that's been delayed XD Thank you as always for your review! :D

 **SumCheeze:** I'm hoping that I'll be able to tie everything up in good time, but we'll have to see! I want to explore the Tsukishima family dynamic and I think I want to come back to it in the future, but we'll have to wait and see. Thank you very much for your review, it means a lot to me! :)

 **Daughter of the Oceans:** Thank you so much! I'm having fun developing everyone's characters and I'm glad to hear that you think it's going well! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **LolieMila:** Of course it is ;) I'm trying to update once a week and so far I've been pretty consistent! Thank you so much for your review and your support! :D

 **Lady Syndra:** Yep, I think the darkest part of the story is over! Only healing bits from here. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **SippyCup:** Hopefully that's the last of it. Even if it isn't, she's got her boys to back her up now ;) Thank you for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **WOW. Over 150 follows and 100 favourites. I'm completely blown away- thank you all so much. And in case you can't tell, I think I'm leaning towards a ship ;) Let's see where this goes...**

 **See you all next week~**


	24. The Team

**Thank you to Sayori1412, 4everinmydreams, SumCheeze, moonlight phonex101, Sapphiresushi, jily shiper, snowlikestardust, Zaynah Alam, ChaosHearth, Just a Super Fangirl, AoiAi, Nea-Nyx, BruhWhatHappened, lune-de-bleu, and Disastrous World for your support! Thank you thank you!**

* * *

When she woke up again, it was because her leg was beginning to cramp up.

Normally, Mikaela used her alarm clock in her room to wake her up by at least 6 am. Whenever she slept over at Kageyama's place, he was always up early enough to wake her up by her usual time. She'd done this so often that her body seemed to have an internal alarm clock, so she was always up before her alarm. It was probably the fact that yesterday was so mentally exhausting that she needed all the sleep she could get.

But why was this 'sleeping in' a problem? Because she needed to take her pills by 7 am.

It felt like fire, like something that was crawling through her thighs and heating up her blood. God, it'd be so much easier if she could just rip her thighs off of her body. Mikaela groaned, trying to stretch her legs out, but the pain hit her like a brick and she froze.

"Shit."

Her bag. Tsukishima had mentioned that Kageyama had dropped off her bag- Come to think of it, the last memory she had of yesterday was chatting with Tsukishima on the couch. She had put her head on his shoulder...

Mikaela sat up so fast that she didn't even notice the pain in her legs.

 _Did I fall asleep on him?_

Her cheeks burned. _Not the time! Focus!_

She twisted her body, eyes searching desperately for her backpack, only to notice that it was knocked away from her and out of reach. _Shit._ As soon as she extended her arm, another set of cramps seized through her thighs- now, not just the one leg. "Crap," Mikaela hissed through gritted teeth, wincing.

"Uh, Mikaela-san?" To her surprise, Tsukishima's older brother- Akiteru?- was the first in the room, a confused look on his face. "Are you-"

He never got to finish his sentence. Mikaela hissed out, "bag, front pouch, yellow!"

He stared at her for a very long moment before she waved her hand vaguely at her fallen backpack. Finally, he crouched down next to it, opened the front pouch, and pulled out the yellow container of her pills. Akiteru handed them to her and she snatched at them, opening the container with trembling fingers and forcing two pills down her throat. She choked, coughing hard enough that Akiteru hit her on the back, but thankfully the pills stayed down.

She flopped back from her seated position to bounce her head off the pillow underneath her, sighing. "Thanks," she croaked.

"No problem?" he replied, saying it more like a question than anything else.

"Akiteru? What's..." Mikaela turned her head and saw Tsukishima standing in the hallway, his lips parted in a yawn. His eyes went wide behind his glasses when he saw them together. "Mikaela? You're awake?" He shifted his gaze to his brother. "Did you wake her up?"

"No!" they protested in unison.

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow. "So why's she up so early?" Mikaela glared at him and held up the tiny yellow bottle, shaking it. The dozen pills that were left inside clattered noisily against the insides of the container. "Ah. You take those twice a day?"

"Yeah, and the first round is at 7 am," she replied breezily. "And as much as I love sleeping in, I like being able to walk even more."

"I've got to go to work," Akiteru put in, his gaze flitting from her to his brother, "but I'll be back early afternoon. Don't do anything dumb."

"It's Friday, we still have school," Mikaela said tiredly.

Both brothers turned sharply and glared at her, and it was so terrifyingly similar that she finally understood why Hinata freaked out every time she and Kageyama glared him down. "No," Tsukishima said sharply. "You're taking the day off."

She blinked. "What? Why?"

Akiteru cleared his throat. "I've really got to get going, but don't worry, Mom said she'd be taking the day off, so she's home with you." Before Mikaela could say anything, he stood up and shrugged sheepishly. "Nice to meet you, see you later?" And then he was gone, out the door like he had never been there in the first place.

Mikaela gaped at the door as it closed before she twisted back to Tsukishima, the pain in her legs gradually dulling. "What'd you mean, I'm not going to school?"

Tsukishima glared at her. "Mikaela, do you remember what the hell happened yesterday?"

She frowned, her eyebrows knitting together. Yesterday...

 _Oh._

Her father's face flooded her head and Mikaela felt tears piercing her eyes, so she turned away so she wasn't facing the blond anymore. "No," she muttered into a pillow, burying her face into the material.

"Look, there's nothing wrong with you taking a couple days off," Tsukishima said. "You're not going to miss much." When she didn't reply, he sighed. She heard his footsteps as he moved closer towards the couch. "Your dumb cousin was here at six in the morning."

This caused her to stir. "He was?" Mikaela whispered, rotating on the couch again so she was facing Tsukishima.

He nodded. "Yeah, woke me up. He was out for a run or something. When he got here, he saw you were still sleeping and said he'd come back right before I left for school."

It felt like some parts of her broken heart were coming back together. Mikaela managed the tiniest of smiles, grateful for her idiotic cousin. "Okay, thanks," she mumbled, fidgeting with the hair elastic around her wrist nervously. "Thanks, Tsukishima."

Tsukishima shrugged, avoiding her eyes. "Should we tell coach why you're absent?"

She considered it. "Probably best to."

"And the team?"

Mikaela hesitated, and Tsukishima waited patiently for her response. "Yeah," she agreed finally, biting her lower lip. "I don't want them to think I'm skipping practice or something. It's best they know."

The blond rolled his eyes. "You know they wouldn't think that of you for a second."

"Oh," she said softly, thinking back to when Tsukishima told her that the team wouldn't be bothered by her prosthetic. "Maybe."

"Whatever," he replied, indifferent to her opinion. When he finally met her eyes, his amber eyes widened. "We never got to put ice on your bruise," Tsukishima pointed out, his gaze lingering on her jawline.

"Doesn't matter," Mikaela grumbled, flipping herself back over so she didn't have to see Tsukishima studying her bruise any longer. "The last one went away within a few days, this one will too."

"Last one?" Tsukishima asked immediately, and Mikaela locked her jaw shut. "This has happened before?" She didn't reply, instead pressing her face further into the pillow that her head was resting on. Silence followed his statement, but she was sure that the gears in Tsukishima's brain were turning as he started to make connections. "Wait. That one day at practice-"

"Shut up."

"You never walked into a cupboard, did you?"

She was saved from answering when there was a polite tap at the door. Nobody moved for a few seconds, but whoever it was knocked again. Mikaela listened as Tsukishima sighed and moved towards the door. There was a soft click as the door opened.

"Yeah, she just woke up," she heard Tsukishima say. Mikaela immediately sat up and turned her head, visibly relaxing when she noticed it was Kageyama at the door.

"Hey, Kaisha," he said casually as he walked in, his eyes drifting to her backpack on the floor. "Did I get everything?"

She shrugged. "Honestly, I haven't checked." She reached out, trying to lunge for the backpack on the floor without getting up from the couch, but Kageyama beat her to it. He grabbed her bag and set it on her lap. Mikaela smiled gratefully and unzipped the main pouch, pulling out one of her black hoodies, her water bottle, and her hair brush. She nearly laughed. Kageyama really had thought carefully about what she needed. "Thank you," she started to say, until her eyes landed on one more thing in her bag.

The framed photo from her room. The one of her and her father after the Junior High tournament.

Her mouth went dry, and she tried to express her gratitude in some sort of way, but found herself unable to. She was frozen. Kageyama raised his eyebrows. "Should I not have grabbed that?"

She shook her head. "No, it's great, thank you." Mikaela blinked, tears starting to form in her eyes again. _Crying again? Ugh._ "Thanks," she managed, turning her head so he wouldn't see her tears.

Kageyama nodded, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Okay. Uh, should I tell coach?"

"Yeah, I already discussed that with her," Tsukishima put in, moving to stand next to the setter. "You can tell him and the team if you want."

They both glared at each other for a minute before Mikaela sighed. "What's wrong with you two?" Tsukishima and Kageyama both scoffed and turned away from each other. "It doesn't matter," she muttered, shaking her head. "Thank you guys."

"Go back to sleep," Tsukishima urged. "My mom's home if you need anything."

Kageyama shot a sharp look at Tsukishima before turning to her and nodding. "After practice tonight, I'll come here and take you back to my place."

"Okay," Mikaela replied drowsily, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. "Get to school, you morons."

They both left quietly, and Mikaela pressed her face into her pillow. The door opened, then closed, and Mikaela was left alone with her thoughts. Thankfully, she fell asleep once again in less than five minutes.

* * *

Practice was as hectic as usual. Nishinoya and Tanaka were rowdier than usual (apparently they'd both passed their latest test and were passionately describing it to anyone who would listen), Ennoshita had given up on reeling them in or trying to calm them down, and Asahi was scurrying away in an attempt to avoid their assault. Daichi and Sugawara were setting up the net, and Kiyoko was going over something on her stat sheets with Takeda.

Tsukishima hadn't even gotten changed when Kageyama practically pounced on him. "When'd you want to tell coach?" he asked.

"Let me get changed first, you moron, then we'll do it. Unless you want to go tell them yourself?" The setter was about to answer when Tsukishima cut him off. "Never mind, you'll probably say something dumb. Wait for me."

"Whatever," Kageyama scoffed. "I'll-"

"Kageyama!" Hinata bounded over and seized Kageyama's wrist, tugging sharply. "Let's go warm up!"

Tsukishima glared at the setter. "Give me two minutes."

He probably would've replied, but Hinata was already dragging him off. By the time Tsukishima was changed, Yamaguchi had joined Kageyama and Hinata in a stretching circle with Kinoshita and Narita. Kageyama saw Tsukishima come out of the change room and was up faster than he could blink, waving off Hinata's questions. The unlikely duo walked side-by-side towards Coach Ukai and Takeda, who were going over a volleyball magazine together.

Kageyama stopped, and Tsukishima paused next to him, glancing briefly at the setter. His jaw was locked, and his hands were clenched into fists. Tsukishima raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

Ukai looked up from the magazine. "Hey, Kageyama, Tsukishima. What's up?"

Kageyama glanced up at Tsukishima, shooting him a questioning glare, but the blond just shrugged, as if to say, _all yours._ Kageyama steeled himself and turned back towards the coach. "Um, it's Kaisha- I mean, Mikaela."

"She's not here?" he concluded, and the boys nodded. "Why's that?"

"Her father passed away," he replied curtly.

By the look on Ukai's face, that was clearly not the answer he was expecting. Judging by the way the magazine in Takeda's hands clattered to the floor, he hadn't been expecting anything remotely like that either. "You're kidding," Ukai said in disbelief, collecting himself. Kageyama shook his head. "Holy shit."

Their teacher didn't even scold him for his language. "How's she doing?" he asked softly, picking the magazine up off the ground.

Kageyama shrugged, his eyes betraying his grief, and Tsukishima spoke up. "Like you'd expect. She just wanted to let you know because she didn't want you to think she was skipping practice."

"Of course," Ukai said quietly, exhaling slowly. "Yeah, of course. Tell her I'm sorry for her loss."

"That means it was your uncle, Kageyama?" The setter blinked, then nodded slowly, and Takeda sighed. "I'm sorry for your loss, Kageyama. Please extend my condolences to Mikaela as well."

"We weren't that close," Kageyama muttered, but Tsukishima could hear the lie.

"She also said you could tell the team," the middle blocker added. "We're going to make sure she stays home for a while." Well, not specifically her own home, but that wasn't information that anyone else needed.

Ukai raised his eyebrows when Tsukishima said 'we' but otherwise kept a straight face. "Alright. Yeah, tell her to take it easy, there's no rush for her to come back."

Takeda nodded. "I'll inform the principal that she's taking an extended leave of absence."

"Thank you," Kageyama said tightly.

With nothing left to say, the two boys bowed to the adults and turned, walking back to the rest of practice without another word. Daichi and Sugawara began warm up drills, and they joined in, not even sparing each other a second glance.

About five minutes later, Ukai called them all in for a quick debrief before practice started. Tsukishima was surprised at how tense he was the entire time, even as Coach went over another practice match with Nekoma, their schedule for the next few days, and what they'd be working on. Even though he knew what Ukai was eventually going to bring up, he didn't understand why he was so tense about it. It didn't even involve him.

"Before we begin, I've got a quick announcement," Ukai said, catching Kageyama's eye briefly. "Mikaela won't be attending practice for a while."

Tsukishima felt Yamaguchi stiffen up next to him. There wasn't even any time for whispers to break out because Nishinoya had already said what everyone was thinking. "What? Why?"

Ukai seemed to weigh his options in his head before answering. "Her father passed away yesterday. She's taking some time off."

There was a chorus of whispers that revolved around 'oh my god' and 'no way' and other phrases to express disbelief. Tsukishima glanced over to Kageyama and didn't even find the energy to make a snarky comment- Hinata was shaking Kageyama's arm and his eyes were wide with surprise, but the setter was completely rigid. Tsukishima looked back to Yamaguchi, who was biting his lip hard enough to tear off skin.

"Kageyama?" Sugawara said softly, and the younger setter turned stiffly. "I'm sorry for your loss. Your uncle, right?"

"Kageyama, I'm sorry to hear that," Asahi murmured, and Nishinoya nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yeah. It's fine." Kageyama stood up, although Tsukishima could see from his stiff posture that he was lying. The blond resisted the urge to smack his head off the far wall- since when had he started watching the King often enough to pick up on his little quirks? Ugh. Regardless, the King still rose from his spot and moved to the volleyball court, the squeak of his shoes being the only sound echoing through the gym.

The silence that followed was broken when Tsukishima snorted. "Oh, now the King's all upset? What happened to that attitude from earlier?"

"Tsukishima," Daichi warned, shooting him a warning glare.

The team watched on in silence.

Kageyama ignored him, picking up a volleyball and trying a jump serve. The ball hit the net toppled to the ground. His shoulders tensed up, and he pulled another ball up from the ground. This time, the serve went too far and landed out of bounds.

 _He's losing it,_ Tsukishima thought, nearly rolling his eyes. Guess the King wasn't holding it together as well as he wanted to.

Visibly irritated, Kageyama swiveled. "Well?" he said coldly. "Are we going to practice?"

"Get to it," Ukai said after a moment, and the boys gradually began to rise and move towards the volleyball cart. It was oddly quiet, Tsukishima noticed, which was definitely not something he'd usually describe the Karasuno team as. "Except for you," the coach added, pointing to Kageyama.

The setter dropped the ball he was holding out of surprise. "What?"

"Go home." There was no room for compromise- Tsukishima could hear the firmness in his tone.

"What? Why?" Kageyama objected immediately, his eyebrows knitting together. "Coach-"

"I get it," Ukai interrupted, clapping a hand on the boy's shoulder and making his tense up. "You're grieving, and you're trying to get your stress out through volleyball. Go home, get some rest, take the weekend off. I'm not joking."

His jaw dropped. "But-"

"Nope. You don't ever miss practice, I think you can miss a few for something like this." His gaze softened. "Look, Kageyama, I'm betting this is bothering you more than you're letting on."

Tsukishima picked up a volleyball from the floor, keeping his ears trained on the conversation. A conflicted look passed over Kageyama's face. "He... He stayed in the hospital with me," he said coarsely, his voice dry. "For five days."

 _Five days? Without leaving?_ Tsukishima would've been surprised if it was for anyone except Mikaela- she seemed to be the only thing in the King's life that would take priority over volleyball.

"Do it for Mikaela," Ukai pressed, and the collapsed expression on Kageyama's face told him that he had won. The setter pursed his lips and nodded stiffly, shoving himself forwards and towards the change room. He vanished inside but reappeared a few seconds later with his belongings. He didn't look back at the team once before he left. Ukai sighed heavily. "God," he grumbled, shaking his head. "Seems like the only thing he cares about more than volleyball is her."

Tsukishima couldn't help but agree. The others were still oddly quiet, though quiet murmurs made their way through the gym. Ukai's eyes snapped up to Tsukishima. "Oi, go practice. Let's get some serves going."

"Yes, coach."

So practice went on, and Tsukishima tried to banish any thoughts of Mikaela or her crazy cousin from his mind, because he'd been thinking about her far too often for his liking lately.

* * *

When Mikaela woke up again around noon, Tsukishima's mother was baking in the kitchen. The smell of fresh cookies pulled Mikaela up from the couch and forced her to drag her feet forwards and into the kitchen. Ayano had smiled kindly at her and asked if she'd wanted to help. Mikaela had agreed.

They never spoke of the previous night. Instead, they listened to the radio and made cookies- several dozen at least- that Ayano was bringing to a party she was attending with some friends. Mikaela had little to no confidence in her own baking skills (she'd probably burn down the kitchen in her house), but Ayano guided her through it with ease and Mikaela thought that maybe she'd be okay.

But when a certain song played on the radio, one of the ones her father and herself would sing along to while making dinner, she burst into tears.

Ayano was next to her in a heartbeat as Mikaela sunk to the floor, the spoon in her hands clattering to the floor. Tsukishima's mother clutched her in a tight hug as she cried, the warmth radiating from her body helping to comfort her as she sobbed.

She couldn't even speak, but Ayano didn't ask her to.

Eventually, the blonde woman coaxed her up from the kitchen floor and towards the living room, resting her back on the couch. Mikaela didn't even try and protest. She fell asleep again, her brain replaying the song's tune over and over again.

* * *

 _ **Hinata Shoyo (17:58):** Hey Kaisha! I heard about your dad and I'm really sorry, I hope you're okay! Practice wasn't the same without you!_

 ** _Hinata Shoyo (17:59):_** _And you can always talk to me whenever you want!_

 ** _Hinata Shoyo (17:59):_** _If you need anything just ask!_

 ** _Hinata Shoyo (18:00):_** _I hope you're okay!_

* * *

 _ **Unknown (18:02):** Hey Mikaela, this is Sugawara, I got your number from Hinata (I hope that's alright). I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, I hope you're doing alright. Make sure you get lots of rest :)_

* * *

 _ **Unknown (18:02):** Hi Mikaela this is Daichi, I hope you're getting lots of sleep. Sorry about your loss. Let me know if there's anything we can do for you._

* * *

 _ **Unknown (18:03):** Hey Mikaela this is Asahi_

 ** _Unknown (18:04):_** _I got your number from Hinata_

 ** _Unknown (18:04):_** _Anyways I'm sorry to hear about your father, I hope you're okay._

* * *

 _ **Unknown (18:07):** Hey Mikaela! This is Nishinoya! From the Karasuno volleyball team! Sorry to hear about your dad, hope you're doing okay! :D_

* * *

 _ **Unknown (18:07):**_ _Yo Mikaela, this is Tanaka, I hope you're doing alright and I'm sorry for your loss, that totally sucks, I hope you're okay_

* * *

 _ **Unknown (18:08):** Hello Mikaela, this is Shimizu. I hope you're feeling alright. Please let me know if there's anything I can do for you._

* * *

 ** _Unknown (18:09):_** _Hey Kaela, this is Yamaguchi. I know that I already knew about your father's passing but I still wanted to let you know that I'm so sorry for your loss and I hope you're doing okay. If you ever need anywhere to stay for the night just let me know._

 ** _Unknown (18:10):_** _And if you ever need anyone to talk to, please feel free to talk to me!_

 ** _Unknown (18:10):_** _I hope you're sleeping. The team misses you._

* * *

Mikaela felt like she'd never stop crying.

At least, this time, it was happy tears.

* * *

 **Sayori1412:** Don't give up sleep to read this! It'll still be here when you wake up XD I'm glad you like the pacing and Tsukishima's reactions! Every time I think I'm getting the hang of writing his character, a new situation comes up and I'm like "oh god dammit" because sometimes he's just a pain in the ass. Yes, Oikawa and Iwaizumi will come around again! Probably next chapter, we'll have to see. Thank you for your lovely review as always :D

 **4everinmydreams:** I know right?! Like writing a short mini essay on Hamlet is absolute torture but writing thousands of words in a fanfic is dead simple XD Anyways, thank you kindly for your review! :)

 **SumCheeze:** I feel bad for Yamaguchi, and then I'm like "oh. I'm the writer. I can change that." I'm trying to develop his friendship with Mikaela but there's too many people I want her to be friends with ugh XD Thank you very much for your review! :D

 **moonlight phonex101:** Yes! Pictures or video evidence are very important! I completely agree with you! However, going into these situations, Mikaela's first thoughts aren't generally how she's going to record the situation- besides, it's not something she's very likely to go public about anytime soon. Thank you very much for your review! :)

 **Sapphiresushi:** It doesn't matter if you don't say much, I'm just glad you took the time to review! Thank you so much! :D

 **jily shiper:** I'm so glad you're getting that vibe from him, thank you so much, that's such a relief XD I'm glad you like the kinda-ship! I'm nervous about developing it because again, this story is about Mikaela and her personal development... but I'm trying to convince myself that this ship would help her development? If that makes any sense. Nah, Kageyama and Yamaguchi weren't whispering about anything important (probably) ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **snowlikestardust:** Okay, first off, I love how you capitalized Emotions XD Thank you so much! Your words are so kind! I'm sorry I'm making you feel various Emotions (yeah, they suck, I know) but I'm glad you're enjoying the story! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **What's up friends?! Guess who got into their dream program at a very competitive school for biomedical engineering!? I'm super pumped because I didn't think I'd get in so yay that's great! (Also this career choice may or not have vaguely been inspired by later chapters of my HXH story called ESCAPE involving prosthetic stuff, if you've read that then you know what I'm talking about)**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for all of your support! :)**


	25. The Healing

**Thank you so much to kenmae, Shadow Wolf 15846, SumCheeze, Otrera77, S. yons, manga. geek. 3, Sayori1412, jily shiper, Ryka Spar, jsalles2003, showichi, Akuma-no-oosama, Crazed Aj, Petale, katha1708, edvy8, and YueLilianPotter for your support! You are all very much appreciated! :)**

* * *

Mikaela was surprised when Kageyama showed up at the Tsukishima residence early to collect her. She didn't complain- she gathered her stuff and thanked Ayano repeatedly for her hospitality. When she tried to ask Kageyama how practice was, he had scoffed and never answered. Mikaela left it at that.

They didn't talk at all on the way back. Kageyama carried her stuff for her without her needing to ask. When they finally reached his house, he filled her in: no parents in his house until Tuesday. She'd be clear to stay until then.

Mikaela found out later that Kageyama had been sent home from practice by the coach. She sent him a silent thank you.

They spent the entire night watching action movies, adventure movies, fantasy movies: basically anything with plenty of plot holes and very predictable characters. Kageyama made them both popcorn, and the cousins munched on it quietly as the movies progressed. It was nice to be distracted; Mikaela couldn't quite bring herself to enjoy the movies they were watching but she enjoyed how the movies brought her mind off of her father.

The next day, they rotated between playing volleyball in the backyard and watching more movies. At one point, Mikaela dragged out a board game, and it got so heated that she was ready to throw something at her cousin when she landed on one of his properties in _Monopoly._

She could never sleep. And when she did, she woke up with nightmares. But Kageyama was by her side every step of the way, and even if he wasn't getting a lot of sleep either, it didn't stop him from getting up at ungodly hours to make sure she was okay.

All in all, she was getting better.

And so was he.

Sunday, three days since she heard the news and two days since she moved into Kageyama's house, Iwaizumi texted her.

 ** _Iwaizumi Hajime (14:03):_** _Spiking practice? You can bring Kageyama._

She was tempted. Horribly tempted.

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (14:06):_** _Probably best that we don't._

 ** _Iwaizumi Hajime (14:07):_** _Is it your injury?_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (14:07):_** _Not really_

 ** _Iwaizumi Hajime (14:08):_** _What's up? Are you okay?_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (14:09):_** _Just not up to it. Sorry. Say hi to Oikawa for me_

Mikaela sighed, cradling her phone in her hands. Oikawa, the devil he was, would be able to see right through her: he'd know something was wrong. Then she'd have to tell them, and then she'd cry more, and she was finally moving past the 'crying every other hour' phase and she didn't really want to start that up again. Iwaizumi would probably catch on quickly enough, and then she'd have both the Aoba Johsai captains onto her and she really didn't want to talk about it.

She jumped when her phone buzzed in her hands, and nearly groaned when she saw the caller ID. After a quick internal debate about whether to send it to voicemail or not, she hesitantly brought the phone up to her ear. "...Hello?"

 _"Did you really just turn down practicing with Iwa-chan and I?"_

"...Yes."

 _"Who are you and what have you done with Mika-chan?"_

Mikaela's lips twitched at the nickname. "Sorry, Oikawa, not up to it today."

 _"What happened?"_

"Nothing. All's good."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. _"Yeah, Iwa-chan says he doesn't believe you, and frankly, I don't either,"_ Oikawa said dryly, and Mikaela bit her lip. _"Everything okay? Is Karasuno falling apart and now you're thrown into desperation?"_

She nearly laughed. "In your dreams. No, we're stronger than ever."

 _"Hmph, okay. So it's not volleyball related. Something at home?"_

Her voice hitched in her throat. She was fumbling over what to say when Kageyama entered the room, raising an eyebrow at her in confusion. "Who're you talking to?" he asked. Mikaela poked her fingers up behind her head in a symbol for devil's horns and Kageyama nodded knowingly. "Ah. Tell Oikawa-senpai I say hi."

"Kageyama says hi," she said, glad to have something to say.

 _"Tell my darling little kohai I can't wait to crush him at the qualifiers. Anyways, you're dodging the question."_

She rolled her eyes. Oikawa never missed a chance to try and crush Kageyama. "Oikawa says you're a darling and he can't wait to see you," she called out to Kageyama's back. He turned from whatever he was doing in the kitchen and nodded.

 _"Oi, that's not what I said! Don't twist my words, Mika-chan!"_

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," she said, smirking.

 _"Uh... if you don't want to talk about whatever's bothering you,"_ Oikawa said quietly, _"Iwa-chan and I will understand. You know that, right?"_

It was uncharacteristic of the older setter- Mikaela had expected him to keep pushing her and pushing her for answers. She probably would've cracked at one point. But this? It was almost like he was trying to guilt her into telling him- probably unintentionally. Crap, it was working.

"It's not..." she raked a hand through her hair. "A lot of shit's been going down," she eventually said, leaning back into the couch. "It's just..." Oikawa was silent on the other end of the line, and Mikaela sighed. "Dad passed away a few days ago," she said softly, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. Crap, she hated saying it out loud.

A moment of silence on the other end of the line. _"Mikaela, I'm sorry, that..."_ Oikawa trailed off.

"Yeah, thanks," Mikaela said hollowly, sinking deeper into the couch.

An awkward silence followed her words. She bit her lip, trying not to bite hard enough to draw blood. Mikaela was surprised when it was Iwaizumi that spoke next. _"Do you want to go to a cafe or something?"_ Iwaizumi asked through Oikawa's phone. _"We don't have to practice."_

"No, you guys go practice, I wouldn't want to interrupt."

 _"Nah, it's fine, this moron could use a break anyways. He practices too much."_

She half-smiled. "You sure?"

 _"One hundred percent."_

"Okay. Sure."

 _"Great, I'll text you where, it's walking distance from you guys. Wait, where are you?"_

"Kageyama's place."

Iwaizumi murmured something that she didn't catch, then said, _"Yeah, still walking distance. Meet you at three?"_

"Yep. See you soon."

 _"See you."_

He hung up. Mikaela let her hand fall away from her head, the phone slipping from between her fingers and landing on the couch. Her phone buzzed with a text- probably the address that Iwaizumi was talking about. "What was that about?" Kageyama asked, moving to sit next to her on the couch. He had two drinks in his hands and a movie case clutched under his arm.

"We're meeting Iwaizumi and Oikawa at a cafe," she said.

He quirked at eyebrow at her. "You couldn't have told me this _before_ I got everything set up?"

She grinned. "Sorry."

"Whatever," her cousin grumbled, standing up and walking back towards the kitchen. "We'll have these later."

A twenty minute walk later, Mikaela found herself staring up at the bright neon sign with the name of the cafe. The shop was relatively full, so she and Kageyama squeezed in and picked out one of the only remaining tables for four people. The busyness of the shop made Mikaela want to shrink in on herself; she'd been in almost complete isolation for the past couple days, and suddenly being thrown out into a crowded area was making her dizzy.

Kageyama didn't look any more comfortable than she was. He was wearing something comfortable- track pants and a black shirt- but he was shifting nervously in his seat. Mikaela felt like she was overheating, but she didn't dare try and remove her hoodie. She felt like if she ever became dizzy or uncomfortable, her clothes could swallow her whole. It was a pathetic attempt at a reassurance, but it worked for her.

"We're early," the setter noted.

"Yeah," she agreed, not sure if it was the right moment for a sarcastic comment or not.

Silence fell over them again. Mikaela watched multiple people enter and exit the shop, chatting aimlessly with each other and heading up to the line to order. People-watching was nice sometimes, but now it was just making her anxious, and she couldn't quite figure out why.

Her palms felt sweaty. She tucked her hands into her sleeves and ducked her head. "Maybe we got the address wrong," she muttered, her eyes flitting between different customers.

Kageyama frowned. "But this was the address Iwaizumi sent you."

"Yeah, but still."

"You don't make any sense."

Mikaela pouted, tucking part of her face into the neck of her sweater. "Shut up," she mumbled, her eyes falling downwards to glare at the table. Kageyama didn't say anything after that, instead turning his head over his shoulder to glance at the door.

Maybe another two minutes of silence passed before Kageyama straightened up. Mikaela noticed and immediately pulled her face out of her hoodie. There stood Oikawa and Iwaizumi; the latter was glaring at the former who was shrugging sheepishly. Oikawa noticed them first and immediately grinned, holding up his hand in a wave. "Heyo, Mika-chan! Tobio-chan!"

"Hey, Mikaela, Kageyama," Iwaizumi said in greeting.

Mikaela couldn't help but smile. "Hey, Iwaizumi-senpai, Oikawa-senpai."

"Hello," Kageyama said stiffly. Mikaela resisted the urge to kick him from under the table.

"Did you guys order anything?" They both shook their heads, and Oikawa sighed. "Fine, fine. This is your senpai's treat. What do you want?"

Kageyama shook his head. "Nothing, thank you."

Oikawa made a face. "I wasn't talking to you, Tobio-chan. Mika-chan! Do you want hot chocolate? Coffee? Tea? A milkshake? Something? Anything?" Iwaizumi swatted Oikawa in the back of the head, but it barely phased him.

"Are you sure?" she asked quietly.

"Yep!"

"Only if you get something for Kageyama too."

"Oh, deal's off," Oikawa said immediately, but Iwaizumi's hand latched onto his ear and pinched. Oikawa squeaked in annoyance and shoved his partner's arm away. "Okay, okay, fine! I'll get something for both of you." He pouted, glaring at Iwaizumi. "You're just trying to make me broke, aren't you?"

"Just go get their stuff," Iwaizumi said with a sigh, shaking his head.

"Two hot chocolates, please," Mikaela said with a small smile, amused by their antics. She hadn't realized how much she missed these two until she actually got to see them again. Oikawa muttered something under his breath that she didn't catch before moving up to the counter to order. Iwaizumi sat down between her and Kageyama around the circular table, propping his elbows up.

"So, how's Karasuno?" he asked casually.

Mikaela immediately looked to Kageyama, expecting him to answer. "We're fine," he said awkwardly. "We passed the prelims and we've been training hard."

"That's good."

An awkward silence passed before Mikaela piped up. "One of the teams they played in the prelims had a guy who was six-foot-seven or something," she added, ignoring how raspy her voice sounded. "Hinata had a fun time with that game."

Iwaizumi turned to her, grinning. "Oh? Was it that bad?"

Kageyama snorted. "Hardly. He was a newbie."

"Still, height like that is game-changing," the ace said, the awkwardness ebbing away from the conversation. "One really tall dude can be the reason you win."

Unfortunately, everyone's favourite brunet had just received his drinks and returned quickly enough to overhear. "Aw, is Iwa-chan sour that he's only five-foot-eleven?" Oikawa cooed, holding the tray in his hands. There were four drinks: two hot chocolates for Mikaela and Kageyama, one tall drink with a straw that looked like it was for Oikawa, and one shorter cup that looked like it was probably coffee.

"Shut up, Assikawa," Iwaizumi grumbled, swinging a hand at Oikawa out of reflex.

Startled (and perhaps also reacting on reflex), Oikawa jumped backwards, and the drinks toppled out of the tray, falling forwards. Mikaela immediately lunged across the table at the same time Kageyama did, and by some miracle, she caught one of the hot chocolates by the rim of the cup. Oikawa's drink fell clumsily against her other hand, striking the back of it, but Kageyama had also been diving for that drink and managed to get a grasp on it without spilling it. His other hand fumbled for Iwaizumi's coffee, spilling a bit of it on the table, but otherwise he had caught it.

The second hot chocolate hit the table and the lid popped off. The hot liquid splattered everywhere.

When Mikaela finally got a grasp of the situation, it felt like almost every customer and employee in the store was staring at their table. Three drinks had been caught- one hot chocolate in her left hand, a coffee in Kageyama's right (albeit half-empty), and Oikawa's sugary drink in his left. The now-empty hot chocolate cup rolled across the table and fell, hitting the floor with a clatter. Hot chocolate and coffee were spilled all over the table, her hoodie, and some had fallen on Kageyama's shirt.

Her skin stung from the heat of the drink. Her sweater was soaked. Everyone was staring at them.

Surprisingly, Mikaela began to laugh.

It began as a giggle but evolved into a cackle, which caused Oikawa to start snickering. Kageyama's face was twisted in some sort of weird smirk. Iwaizumi was grinning, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Someone at another table started laughing, and soon the cafe was filled with various sorts of laughter.

"Mika-chan, I'm so sorry," Oikawa said when his giggling died down. "That was totally Iwa-chan's fault."

"Your fault, Trashikawa," Iwaizumi snapped back.

The two started to bicker, and a barista came over to clean up the table. Mikaela sat still, a dorky grin still on her face as the empty cup was cleared and the table was wiped down. She clutched her saved hot chocolate cup in her hands, the heat from the drink warming up her frozen fingers.

The world around her was blurry for whatever reason. It was kind of weird...

"-kaela. Mikaela!"

She snapped her head up and was greeted with three identical expressions of confusion. Mikaela blinked, trying to clear her vision. "You alright?" Iwaizumi asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "You spaced out."

"Fine," she assured him. "Just tired."

"Here, Mika-chan, go take my jacket and go change, your sweater is soaked," Oikawa said with a huff, pulling his volleyball club jacket off his back and holding it out to her. Mikaela raised an eyebrow at Oikawa's outstretched arm like she was trying to decide if the jacket would turn into a snake and bite her, and Oikawa rolled his eyes. "I'm not trying to fool you, you dummy. Your hoodie is soaked and I'm the only one with a jacket."

Skeptically, Mikaela accepted the jacket from her senpai and stood up. "Thank you," she said, trying to sound grateful.

"Besides," Oikawa added as she pushed past him, "any girl would be lucky to receive anything from- _oomph!"_

Mikaela didn't even have to look- from the sound of it, Oikawa had just been sucker-punched by his best friend. Laughing to herself, Mikaela weaved through the throng of customers to the woman's bathroom, tucking herself inside of the stalls and peeling her soaked sweater off of her body, leaving her in just a black tank top. She pushed her arms through the sleeves and tugged the jacket over her shoulders, deciding to leave it unzipped.

She glanced in the mirror before she left the bathroom, admiring Oikawa's white and teal jacket. It looked good on her.

 _What if I had gone to Aoba Johsai?_

The idea made her laugh. As much as she loved Oikawa and Iwaizumi, she had no doubt that managing their team would be just as chaotic (if not more so) than managing Karasuno's team, especially if she had to deal with any of Oikawa's fan girls. Besides, she was enjoying Karasuno and she'd miss Kageyama. Obviously.

When Mikaela exited the bathroom and made her way back to the table, she noticed the presence of a rather large cookie platter on the table. According to Oikawa, the sales lady was 'very convincing' and 'insisted these cookies tasted like heaven'. They spent the rest of their afternoon lunch in relative peace, munching on cookies and sipping their drinks as they discussed volleyball, volleyball players, teams, and tournaments. Oikawa kept the conversation going so effortlessly that Mikaela suggested he become a talk show host in the future, which spurred a conversation about universities and colleges and future careers.

It was starting to hit Mikaela just how much she missed these two.

About an hour later, when the platter of cookies was long gone and Iwaizumi had had to scare away two separate groups of fan girls who oh-so-desperately needed some attention from Oikawa, they decided it was time for them to head out. They cleaned off their table and moved towards the door. "You know," Mikaela said conclusively as they left the cafe, "you're both morons, but I'm really going to miss you both."

Oikawa clicked his tongue. "You should've come to Aoba Johsai."

"She's fine at Karasuno," Kageyama said protectively, frowning.

"Nah, I'd miss Kageyama," she said, grinning. "And I don't think I could handle all of your fan girls. Seems like Iwaizumi-senpai has his hands full doing that."

"It's ridiculous," the ace agreed, smirking.

Kageyama bowed to the older boys, but Mikaela went for a hug instead. "Thanks for being my adoptive parents," she joked as she hugged Iwaizumi, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

He grinned. "Call us anytime you need something, okay?"

"Okay."

"It's obvious that out of the two of us, I'm the cool parent," Oikawa bragged as he moved to hug Mikaela after she let go of Iwaizumi. "Iwa-chan's just mean and doesn't know how to care about people."

"That's a lie!"

"Yeah? Prove it!"

Mikaela, for one, didn't want to be present when the rest of this argument unfolded. "Thank you guys for today," she called, waving at the them as she slowly backed away, Kageyama following her. "See you guys later!"

Iwaizumi and Oikawa waved goodbye and then took off in the other direction, bickering loudly about who would be the better parent. Mikaela smiled to herself and turned around, walking next to Kageyama. They walked on in silence comfortably, and it was only when they were halfway back to Kageyama's house did Mikaela realize she was still wearing Oikawa's jacket.

"Crap!" Her hands zoomed to where her sweater pockets would be and drew back, empty. "My hoodie," Mikaela said quickly, her eyes flashing up to Kageyama's. "My-"

"Relax," he said immediately, holding out his arm. Her hoodie was neatly tucked in the crook of his arm. "I have your phone too," Kageyama added, fishing through his pocket. He handed it to her as soon as he found it, a look of curiousity on his face.

Mikaela immediately set to dial Oikawa's number when she saw a text pop up on her phone.

 ** _Oikawa Tooru (15:56):_** _Don't worry about the jacket, Mika-chan! Just bring it back when we crush Karasuno at the tournament~_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (15:57):_** _Guess you're not getting it back then_

 ** _Oikawa Tooru (15:57):_** _We'll see ;)_

Mikaela laughed with relief, slipping her phone into the pocket of Oikawa's jacket for now. "He said I could keep it until we see him next," she said to Kageyama, shaking her head. "Which will be at the tournament."

Kageyama was about to respond when his phone buzzed with a call. He pulled the phone up to his ear. "Hello?" There was a pause, and Mikaela watched with surprise as Kageyama's blank look gave way to a smirk. "Yeah, she just got her phone back, I guess she hasn't checked her other messages," he said. Mikaela flushed and immediately went back to her phone, going through her messages.

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (15:42):_** _Hey Mikaela! Call me when you get a chance!_

She sighed, feeling slightly guilty for not immediately checking her messages. "Yamaguchi?" she asked, and Kageyama nodded.

The setter went back to his conversation. "Yeah, we were just out in town for a bit." A pause. "No, we don't have plans." Another pause. "Wait, seriously? With Tsukishima?" Mikaela unintentionally perked up at the mention of his name, trying to tune into the conversation. "Oh, that makes more sense. Yeah, we'll be there. Thanks for the invite."

"What is it?" she asked immediately when he hung up.

Kageyama smirked at her. "Oh, nothing."

"Tell me!"

"Nope."

"If I'm coming, I need to know what it is!"

"...Nah."

 _"Tobio."_

"Fine," he said with a scowl. "Yamaguchi just invited us over to Tsukishima's place for a movie night."

Mikaela blinked, surprised. "A what?"

"I know, I was surprised too," Kageyama admitted, sliding his phone in his track pants pocket. "Apparently it was his mother's idea, and Tsukishima didn't really have any room to argue. Hinata and Yachi are coming too, apparently."

"Oh. That sounds nice." She squeezed her hands into fists in her pockets, trying to ignore the nerves that had blossomed in her stomach for whatever reason. "When?"

"Right now. You know how to get to his place, right?"

"No. I was only half-conscious when I went there."

"Fine, I'll navigate."

"No, you'll get us lost. I'll do it."

"But you don't know where you're going, dumbass."

"You'll get us lost either way."

"Oi, I wouldn't!"

"You would!"

"I wouldn't!"

"You would!"

* * *

They got lost.

(Kageyama wanted to ask for directions but Mikaela was much too stubborn for that.)

When they eventually found Tsukishima's house, everyone else was already there. Yamaguchi welcomed them at the door, grinning wildly, but his smile died faster than a mouse pouncing on cheese when he saw what Mikaela was wearing. "Kaela," he said uncertainly, "is that a Blue Castle jacket?"

"Oh, this?" she asked, staring down at Oikawa's jacket. They'd never gone back to Kageyama's place so she hadn't gotten to change it. "It's Oikawa's. I stole it."

Kageyama swatted her arm. "No, she spilled hot chocolate on her sweater, so Oikawa gave her his jacket."

"Excuse me, _I_ spilled the hot chocolate? That was totally Oikawa."

"That's also why she never saw her phone," he added.

Mikaela scowled at him but bit her tongue. Yamaguchi's wary look faded and his smile popped back onto his face, highlighting his freckles. "That's fine! I'm just glad you both could come. Tsukki's mom wanted to see if you two would join us for the night, and then I suggested inviting the others, so it became a first year bonding session."

"Of course Tsukishima would never initiate this," Mikaela said with a roll of her eyes. "Did he even want us over?"

Yamaguchi shrugged and stepped out of the way, letting Mikaela and Kageyama pass by into the house. Hinata called out his greeting rather loudly, and Yachi's softer greeting followed soon after. Tsukishima, wherever he was, stayed quiet. She slipped off Oikawa's jacket, resting it on one of the hooks, and pulled off her shoes. After a long internal debate, she decided to leave her socks on.

She followed Kageyama into the living room and was immediately greeted by Ayano, who was beaming from ear to ear. "Hello, Mikaela! Good to see you again!"

"You as well, Tsukishima-san," she replied politely.

She laughed. "Oh, please call me Ayano. It makes me feel younger. Have you eaten? I'm making food." When Mikaela and Kageyama managed to stammer out that they hadn't had dinner, she zipped back off to the kitchen, leaving the first years alone in the main room.

The silence was crushed when Tsukishima said, "for the record, this wasn't my idea."

"Thanks for hosting, Tsukishima," Mikaela said with a smirk.

Tsukishima scowled and sat down on the couch, gesturing to a stack of DVDs on the middle table. Yachi sat down on the neighboring armchair and leaned over, spreading the cases out across the table. Hinata immediately bounded over to the second couch, yanking Kageyama by the arm until the setter sat down with him. Unsure of where else to go, Mikaela sat down next to Tsukishima, shifting as far as she could to the one side of the couch to give him room. Yamaguchi sat on the other side of his best friend, leaning towards the table.

"You've got all the Jurassic Park movies?" Hinata said eagerly, shoving his elbow into Kageyama's ribs by accident. "I've only ever seen the first!"

"I've never seen them," Yachi admitted, biting her lip. "Aren't they scary?"

"They're not that bad," Yamaguchi reassured her. "Tsukki's a big fan so I've seen them all."

Mikaela turned to face Tsukishima, who had his chin resting in his palm with a look of indifference on his face. "I forgot you were a fan of dinosaurs," she murmured, plucking one of the DVD cases from the table and turning it over in her hands. "Subtitles? Or is it dubbed?"

"Subtitles," he replied, cocking his head towards her. "The dubbed version is pretty bad."

"So, Jurassic Park marathon?" Yamaguchi asked.

Nobody disagreed, so Yamaguchi popped the first disc in and everyone settled in to enjoy the movie. Ayano brought out trays of food, including some leftover cookies that she and Mikaela had made earlier that weekend. They all ate and watched, with Yachi hugging the life out of a throw pillows and Hinata lazily sprawled out over part of the couch and Kageyama's lap.

It became increasingly difficult to concentrate on the movie because she was sitting next to _Tsukishima,_ for god's sake, and for reasons she failed to understand, he had this way of permanently putting her on edge. Mikaela felt fidgety, and Tsukishima must have noticed, because he scowled at her. "Can you stop moving?"

"Sorry," she muttered, turning away.

"Oh, are you scared?" Tsukishima teased, flashing her a shit-eating grin.

"Of course not," Mikaela snapped back, glaring at him. She'd never seen the movie before, but right now there were children hiding in a kitchen from the velociraptors, and that was freaking her out. "I'm just on edge."

"Shh," Yachi shushed, her eyes wide with terror as the dinosaur's claws clacked against the tiled floor.

Tsukishima lowered his voice to a whisper. "Have you never seen this before?" he murmured, his eyes still on the screen.

She shook her head. "No. First time."

"Seriously?" She nodded. "Have you lived under a rock your entire life?"

Mikaela scowled at him and shoved his shoulder, her face flushed. She didn't try and respond- the movie was getting really freaky. This kitchen scene was going to be the death of her.

The movie finished, and everyone unanimously agreed that it was good. Yamaguchi put in the second one, and Mikaela yawned, started to feel the fatigue of the day settle in. She hadn't been sleeping well to begin with, and she'd been up and about a lot today- plus her time in the cafe with Oikawa and Iwaizumi had completely drained her of energy.

Mikaela managed to stay awake for the second movie, but by the time they were onto the third (it was only 9 o'clock, what the heck), her eyelids drooped shut and she passed out on the couch.

(She had fallen asleep against the side of the couch, and when Kageyama nudged her to check if she was actually asleep, her body tipped and she fell the other way, leaning against Tsukishima's shoulder. The blond had immediately moved to try and shove her off until he noticed she was asleep, and a glare from Kageyama told him that he better not disturb her.

And honestly? He wasn't sure how much sleep she'd had in the past couple days.

So the third movie played on, and Tsukishima's arm went numb, but oddly enough, it didn't bother him as much as he expected it to.)

* * *

 **After a few emotional chapters I thought it was only fair to have a fluffy chapter :) I hope you all enjoyed this! I really liked writing it and it made me smile :) (Also thank you for all the happy notes about my dream program, thank youuu :D)**

 **PSA: I don't own Jurassic Park nor do I know if there is a Japanese-dubbed version of the film or how good it is!**

 **kenmae:** I teared up a bit when I reread that last bit. Ugh, I hate emotion sometimes. Thank you so much! All of those courses sound exciting, I hope you find a favourite! Thank you kindly for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** I hope the Oikawa and Iwaizumi part of this chapter was good! Yeah, I originally didn't consider Kageyama's grief, but I was rereading and went 'oh shit! He's his uncle!' and tried to incorporate something. Anywho, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **SumCheeze:** I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Thank you so much! Thank you for your wonderful review, as always! ;)

 **jily shiper:** I feel ya. The team's messages made my eyes sweat. Nah, as soon as Tsukishima realized that Mikaela was passed out, he set her down and went back to bed XD These two dorks are just idiots sometimes. Plus Kageyama is kinda over-protective, so... Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Shadow Wold 15846:** Yay for supportive friends! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **manga. geek. 3:** Thank you so much! Tsukishima in general is a pain: an asshole character plus a pain to write XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **S. yons:** _Thank you!_ Thank you for all of your kind reviews! I'm glad you love how Mikaela is progressing! Also when you said "Monomi who? She's cancelled" I frickin cackled I shit you not, that was the funniest thing XD Yams is such an underrated sweetheart and I want to develop his friendship with Mikaela more! Ayano just kinda popped into the story when I realized that the most logical thing to do in that particular scenario was get a parent XD Though I'm enjoying how her character's coming along and I like how she's showing Mikaela what a mom should be like.

Thank you so much for your reviews and support! :)

 **Otrera77:** Thank you so much! I apologize for making you feel emotions (I feel like I've had to do that for a lot of people? yikes) but I'm so glad you enjoying the story, thank you for your review! :)

 **A lot of you have cursed me for making you have 'feelings'... Are y'all okay?**

 **XOXO**


	26. The Revelation

**I love you all! Thank you so much to MoonlightFox16, Lara3321456, minionsweg, Btslover13, MethodicChaos, gincitri, moontracer, Travel-fanatic, Brandz, Huohua Duvessa, Sayori1412, SumCheeze, jily shiper, snowlikestardust, and S. yons for the wonderful support!**

* * *

Mikaela went back to school the following Monday, after a week and three days of rotating between Kageyama's house and Tsukishima's house. She only stayed in Tsukishima's house two other times: when Kageyama's mother came back for the night on Tuesday and when his father returned on the Saturday. Both times, she'd barely spoken to Tsukishima. It almost seemed like he was avoiding her.

She felt like she was intruding, but Ayano insisted she wasn't. She helped clean up around the house whenever she could and tried to help making dinner (it didn't feel much like helping, but Ayano assured her that it was fine).

When she returned to school, it felt like everything was finally going back to normal. Sure, it was still hard to get through every day without thinking about her father. But getting things back to normal would help ease her through it. At least, that's what Tsukishima's mother told her.

She clung to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi like moths to a light. Whenever they weren't there, she made sure to stick with Kageyama and Hinata. Nobody talked about it, which helped- as soon as someone said something along the lines of 'I'm sorry for your loss' she was going to cry, she was sure of it.

Practices were helping. The team was sympathetic, but no one questioned her about it or brought it up. Coach Ukai muttered something to her about his condolences and she had to scurry away before she burst into tears.

Four practices later, the other shoe dropped.

It was a morning practice, right before school, and naturally Mikaela was there as early as she could be. No one showed up before Hinata and Kageyama, so she waited with them until Daichi arrived and unlocked the gym.

"Awake yet, Captain?" she teased, mustering a smirk.

He yawned, then glared at her. "It's too early in the morning for your sass, Mikaela," he said tiredly, shaking his head. "Let's set up."

"Yes, Captain," they chorused in unison. By the time she, Hinata, and Kageyama had managed to set up the volleyball net, the rest of the team had arrived, and started stretching to warm up. Tsukishima looked more tired than usual, but Yamaguchi managed to drag him along into the change room.

Then, Mikaela stepped wrong, and something broke.

She had twisted while walking in an attempt to respond to the questions of Tanaka, who was behind her, and stepped funny on her right foot. It didn't hurt- one of the benefits of having a prosthetic- but there was a short click and suddenly, it didn't feel quite as... _attached._ That wasn't the right word, but it would have to do. Something certainly wasn't quite right.

"Mikaela, can you grab the volleyball cart?" Sugawara called.

"Yep!" she called back, shuffling towards the storage room as quickly as she could. "Kageyama," Mikaela hissed through her teeth as she passed him. "Come with me."

"Why? You don't- hey!"

The dark-haired girl seized his sleeve and dragged him with her into the gym storage room, ignoring his protests. As soon as they had ducked in the room and were out of sight, Mikaela rounded on him. "Something's not right."

"With what?" Kageyama asked, his face riddled with confusion.

Mikaela sighed, sitting herself down on one of the wooden blocks in the storage room. "My leg," she said with a sigh, rolling her pant leg up and over her knee. "Something clicked and I don't think it was supposed to."

"Are prosthetic legs supposed to do that?" he murmured, bending down and narrowing his eyes at the metal.

She shrugged. "No idea. This is a custom made one, remember? Not like the ones in the handbooks we got. I have no idea what it's supposed to do."

Kageyama nodded. "Can you take it off?"

Mikaela reached down to where her metal leg met the flesh under her knee and zipped through the procedure that was committed to muscle memory. She'd taken off her leg and reattached it so many times that she could do it in her sleep. "Here," she said, handing the prosthetic to Kageyama. "Anything missing?"

"Can't tell," he said with a shrug.

She groaned. "Useless," she mumbled, and he glared at her. "Kidding. Let me see." He handed the metal leg back to her and she turned it around in her hands, squinting at every overlap of metal and every joint. "Wait, hold up. Right here." Mikaela tapped her finger against one small section that was on the outside of the limb. "The panel's loose."

"Pass," Kageyama instructed, so she handed it off. "Oh. Yeah, a screw just popped out, I think. It's still there, but it's just loose."

"You think?"

"I can fix it. Probably."

"Here, let me do it."

"No, it's fine, I can-"

"Hey, Mikaela, Kageyama!" The cousins immediately froze up as Nishinoya threw open the door to the gym storage room with practically no prior warning. "What's taking so long? We need..."

He trailed off. His jaw dropped.

She was seated on the wooden box with her leg separated from her body. Kageyama was holding the aforementioned prosthetic in his left hand, and his expression of panic and surprise mirrored her own. The libero did nothing but stare, his eyes moving from what was left of her right leg to the metal limb that Kageyama was clutching like a lifeline.

Mikaela didn't know what to do.

"It pops off," Kageyama said suddenly. "I didn't rip it off."

"That's not the problem here, idiot!" Mikaela hissed through her teeth, her eyes never leaving Nishinoya.

The libero seemed to get over his initial state of confusion and surprise, because as soon as he gathered his wits, he screamed. "Holy _shit!"_ he screeched, and Mikaela knew right then and there that she was a goner. There was no coming back from this. "Kageyama ripped Mikaela's leg off!"

"No!" they chorused in unison.

"Bro, what the hell are you talking about?" Tanaka was the next one to poke his head into the gym storage room, and his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He and Nishinoya screamed in unison.

Mikaela groaned. "We're fucked," she said tiredly, turning to her cousin.

He raised an eyebrow at her, handing her prosthetic back to her. "No, _you're_ fucked," he said simply, shrugging.

"Thanks," Mikaela grumbled.

"Mikaela! Kaisha! Are you okay?" Hinata stuck his head into the doorway, pushing past the panicked second years. "Oh, that's cool, I didn't know you could take it off."

"You _knew?!"_ Tanaka and Nishinoya seemed flabbergasted.

"Yeah! I-"

"Oi, what's going on? Why aren't we getting to practice?" Mikaela wanted to shrink in on herself as she recognized the captain's voice. With fumbling fingers, she managed to jam the prosthetic back into place, but not quite fast enough- Daichi managed to get a glimpse of it before she tugged her pant leg down. Daichi's eyes widened. "Holy sh-"

"Daichi, language," Sugawara scolded, popping up next to the captain. "What's with the gathering? Can we not find the volleyball cart?"

The group of six stared at him blankly, until Mikaela sighed and hiked up her pant leg, kicking her foot out. "They're freaking out over my prosthetic," she said tiredly, the light from the swaying lamp in the storage room reflecting off of her leg.

"Well" was Sugawara's only response as he too eyed her prosthetic like it should be in a museum. The storage room had gone eerily quiet, and now Mikaela could spot Asahi trying to see what was going on. "Why don't we..." Sugawara trailed off. "Why did Nishinoya say-"

"I didn't rip her leg off," Kageyama cut in, unintentionally glaring at the libero. "But it _can_ come off." He reached his hands up towards her leg and managed, after a second of hesitation, to remove her prosthetic. "Like this."

Nishinoya and Tanaka screamed as Mikaela's fake leg was separated from her body, and even Asahi looked a little green. By now, the rest of the team had gathered by the doorway to the storage room, all eager to get a look at what was causing Nishinoya and Tanaka so much grief. If it wasn't for the fact that Kageyama was next to her, Mikaela might've burst into tears. Too much attention, all at once, and she felt like she was going to be sick, and-

"Hey, I didn't wake up this early for no practice. What the hell is going on?" Tsukishima pushed his way through the small crowd at the front of the door, and his eyes landed on the prosthetic that Kageyama was clutching in his hand. "Oh. Is that all?"

 _"Is that all?!"_ Ennoshita cried out, dumbfounded. "Her _leg_ is _metal-"_

"Yeah," Tsukishima snapped bluntly, frowning at Ennoshita. "Is that all?"

"Yes," Mikaela said heavily, and Tsukishima met her eyes for the first time. His eyebrows pinched together and he glared at her, but Mikaela couldn't even find the energy to glare back at him.

"You look like shit," the blond said.

She half-smiled. "Thanks."

Tsukishima smirked. "You heard her, nothing to see here but shit," he remarked casually. He scooted past everyone and grabbed the volleyball cart from next to Kageyama. "Let's get going."

"Mikaela, you don't look like shit," Yamaguchi whispered as he trailed after Tsukishima. She shot him a weary thumbs up. "He's just grumpy!"

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."

"Sorry, Tsukki!"

The two boys wheeled the cart out past every other member of the team, leaving silence in their wake. Mikaela snatched her prosthetic back from her cousin, pushed hard enough on the loose panel that something clicked, that forcefully jammed it back onto her leg. "You know," Daichi said slowly, "I never thought I'd see a day where Tsukishima would want to get to practice."

"So let's go then," Mikaela said, standing up. Half of the team lunged forwards like they expected her to fall over. "Can I explain after?"

"She'll explain after," Sugawara agreed, addressing the rest of the team. Murmurs broke out, but the volleyball players dispersed and headed towards the court, where Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were already serving to warm up.

Mikaela wanted to lock herself in the gym storage closet and hide for the rest of the day.

In short, practice didn't last as long as it could've. There was too much interest in her prosthetic to convince the boys to keep playing practice games. Eventually, Daichi and Sugawara gave up and asked Mikaela if she was ready to explain. She agreed, so they formed a semi circle around Mikaela- with the exception of Kageyama, who remained by her side the entire time. She told them the whole story- from starting at Niiyama to the fire to moving in with her mother and getting a prosthetic. There were a lot of dumb questions (" _no,_ Nishinoya, you physically can _not_ try it on, that's not how it works") but Mikaela was surprised at how the rest of the team took it.

No one asked her if it was difficult to walk. No one asked her if she ever needed help. They respected her story and, to her surprise, weren't treating her like a doll.

When she mentioned that the only other ones who knew about it besides the coaches were Oikawa and Iwaizumi from Aoba Johsai, there were some frustrated grumbles from some of the team, but nothing bad. Sugawara even gave her a hug after practice had dispersed, and Mikaela had nearly cried.

Overall, it had done well.

To top it off, Tsukishima approached her afterwards and nudged her shoulder. "I told you so."

"Shut up."

You know what? She was okay with Tsukishima being right this one time.

* * *

School still sucked. Specifically, Kahano.

Kahano hadn't even crossed her mind once since Mikaela had stayed home from school, but apparently Kahano had been thinking of her a lot because she used every moment she could to shoot Mikaela a dirty glare. The boys on the volleyball team had just found out about her prosthetic that same morning, and Mikaela was much too tired to deal with Kahano's attitude today.

The auburn-haired girl shot daggers at her as Mikaela took her seat near the back of the class, right after lunch. Mikaela raised an eyebrow at her, and she turned away. Sighing, the black-haired girl folded her arms across the desk and rested her chin in her forearms.

 _I'm way too tired for this._

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi took their seats next to her. "Hey, Kaela," Yamaguchi chirped as he sat down on her left. She grunted in response, and he sighed. "That kind of day, huh?"

"Well, you were there for that fantastic reveal this morning," Mikaela said dryly. "It's only gone downhill from there."

"What was so bad about that?" Tsukishima mused, propping his elbow up on the desk on the other side of Yamaguchi. "The team was fine with it."

"I don't know," she grumbled, "it just sucked."

He rolled his eyes, and the teacher started the lesson. Mikaela had no choice but to follow along as best she could and avoid eye contact with Kahano for as long as she could, but to her credit, Kahano was keeping her mouth shut and seemed hell-bent on doing nothing but glaring at her. That was fine with her.

Practice happened again after school was over, but Mikaela was just ready to go home. She was still peppered with more questions ("No, Tanaka, it doesn't have a built-in rocket!") but she felt a bit more at ease than she had that morning. They focused more on their synchronized attack today, and Mikaela was helping them pick out positions or the best spots to approach when Kageyama suddenly stiffened beside her.

"Kags?" she asked, frowning. "What's up?"

He wasn't looking at her. He was staring hard at someone behind her, and Mikaela was taken aback when she saw the disgust riddled in his eyes. "Hey, she looks familiar," she heard Kinoshita muse from beside Kageyama, and Mikaela almost didn't want to turn around. Everyone around her was staring at someone that was coming in the doorway to the gym. Her first thought was _Kahano, shit,_ but when she finally looked, it turned out to be even worse.

It was her mother.

"M..." Her lips formed the words, but she couldn't bring herself to actually call out to her. She was just standing there, wearing a formal black pants suit with her work bag slung over her shoulder. Her mouth was sewn shut in a straight line, and her cold eyes scanned the gym and landed on Mikaela, her expression unchanging. Mikaela shivered, goosebumps forming on her skin.

It had been two weeks since she had seen her mother last. What the hell was she doing here?

Ukai glanced briefly at the group huddle on one side of the gym, then looked back towards Monomi, who had her arms crossed. "Excuse me, miss, is there anything we can do for you? We're having a practice right now," he said, not immediately recognizing the woman as a relative to anyone on the team.

Monomi ignored him, pushing past him like he was unimportant. "Ah, Kaisha," her mother said smoothly, strutting into the gym like she owned it. "The front office said that the volleyball practice was here. You look well."

"Leave," Mikaela snapped immediately.

"That's no way to treat your mother," Monomi replied, but she stopped anyways, about half a court's length away. "We have business to discuss."

 _No, we don't,_ Mikaela wanted to scream, but her breath was catching in her throat. _What do I do?_

Without meaning to, her hand sought out Kageyama's and he grabbed her palm, squeezing briefly before letting go. "You heard her," Kageyama said coldly, moving to stand in front of her. "Go."

"Tobio," she addressed curtly. Kageyama didn't respond.

"Mikaela," Sugawara said slowly, turning towards the younger manager. "Is this your mother?"

She nodded slowly, and several people started exchanging quick looks of confusion. Mikaela felt like her heart was going to explode, because it was hammering against her rib cage hard enough to break it. She tried to inhale and exhale slowly in an effort to calm down, but she couldn't get herself to avoid panicking. _Crap, crap, crap-_

"Sorry, Mikaela-san," Daichi said, breaking the awkward silence by addressing the intruder. "Is-"

"Kageyama-san. I don't go by that name."

"Kageyama-san," the captain said quickly, correcting himself, "is there anything we can do for you? We'd like to get on with practice, if you don't mind."

Monomi's lips turned upwards into a crooked smirk. "Oh, yes. I'd just like a minute alone with my daughter. We have some urgent business to discuss." She tapped her foot against the ground impatiently, like any sort of delay would be troublesome.

Mikaela's answer was instantaneous. "No."

Her smirk gave way for a polite business expression, one that assured you 'I know what I'm talking about'. "Okay, then we'll talk about it here," Monomi said loudly, ignoring Takeda's attempt to speak with her. "I'm sure you and I both know that there are things you'd much rather talk about in private. Unless you'd like your team to hear every last bit of what we have to talk about?"

She was shaking like a leaf. _I don't know what to do. Holy shit, what do I do-_

"You heard her."

Her head snapped up to Tsukishima, who stepped up next to Kageyama in a rare moment of partnership. Mikaela was so surprised that she forgot that she was almost about to have a panic attack. "Tsukishima?" Mikaela murmured. She could only see his back, but his shoulders were stiff and the muscles in his back were rigid. _What is he..._

"You're not welcome here," the blond said coolly, drawing himself up to his full height. "Unless you missed her answer? In that case, let me repeat it for you: no, she doesn't want to speak with you. Leave."

"I'm not letting you come within ten feet of her," Kageyama said with a snarl, never once looking back at Tsukishima.

Mikaela's emotions overwhelmed her. "You guys..."

Her mother's lips pinched together and she straightened up. "Unfortunately, whether she speaks with me or not is not up for a debate. There are matters that require her decision and events that will require her to be present, so these are decisions she must be here for."

"Ever heard of a phone?" Tsukishima's voice was dripping with venom, and Mikaela felt lighter, like someone had lifted something from her shoulders. "You don't need to be here. I can see where Mikaela got her flare for the dramatic from."

She punched him lightly in the back, but couldn't find her voice, so the "shut up" died on her lips.

"Oi, lady, she doesn't want to speak to you," Nishinoya called, and Mikaela's eyes brimmed with tears. "Let us practice!"

Sugawara stepped up next, Daichi by his side. "Mikaela's made it clear that you're not welcome to be near her."

"Ma'am, you're not welcome here," Ukai said firmly, stepping in front of Monomi so now she had no choice but to pay attention to him now. "It'd be great if you could leave so we can get on with practice."

Mikaela held her breath.

 _Leave. Please, leave._

"...We'll be in touch," Monomi said slowly, and Mikaela nearly cried with relief when her mother took a step back. "When can I expect you home?"

 _Come on, come on, respond!_

"Never," Mikaela eventually said, her voice barely higher than a whisper. "Don't... Don't expect me."

Her mother glared at her, disappointed and frustrated, then gave her a curt nod, turned on her heel, and marched out of the gym with as much dignity as she could manage. Mikaela didn't stop trembling until her mother's footsteps had completed faded, and when they did, Kageyama pulled Mikaela in for a hug, practically enveloping her in his arms. She blinked rapidly, suppressing any tears that were planning on making an appearance.

"Thank you," she murmured into his shirt. "I love you."

"I love you too," he murmured into her hair.

She used to think that Kageyama was all the family she had left.

Now, Mikaela was pretty sure the Karasuno volleyball team was filling the void that was left in her heart.

* * *

 **Mikaela Protection Squad assemble?**

 **Gahhh I'm running on fumes, help! Procrastination sucks :( Any inspiration or ideas for future chapters would be welcome... ;)**

 **Huohua Duvessa:** That's the plan... ;) Thank you very much for your review!

 **Sayori1412:** Poor Tsukishima the tsundere XD I guess I'll leave that bit up to your imagination ;) I'm glad you liked the cafe scene! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **SumCheeze:** To be honest, I nearly forgot about them too XD I'm glad I didn't though, they're pretty important to Mikaela's story. Definitely watch Jurassic Park! I very much recommend it! It's a lot of fun and sometimes a bit scary but that's fine XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **jily shiper:** UGH you're one of my favourite humans, thank you so much! I totally relate to Mikaela on that bit, I did the same thing last week and got my friend and I lost for half an hour XD Yesss, feel free to read as much into that KageHina as you please! :D Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **S. yons:** I felt like the chapter could use a bit more ;) I've been dragging the chapter out a lot longer than I originally intended! I guess I just like adding detail and more plot and then more fluff XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **snowlikestardust:** Okay I never really imagined that jacket thing going so far but now you've given me an idea XD I actually really like that, it made me laugh! I'd love to use that for, like, a bonus chapter or something. Thank you kindly for your wonderful review! :D

 **Much love for you all! :)**


	27. The Funeral

**My thanks goes out to Sayori1412, snowlikestardust, jily shiper, Huohua Devessa, SumCheeze, Shadow Wolf 15846, Kagehana. Tsukio, minerbbi, ChurriVongola, Lena D. Emma, hunterlithin, and xanjix for your support! :D**

* * *

The date of the funeral was September 23rd.

Mikaela only knew because her mother texted her a few days before, informing her that she was expected to be there and that she should bring Kageyama with her.

She and Kageyama took a train- the funeral was held in Tokyo- and, fittingly, it was raining. Mikaela sighed as she leaned back in the seat of the train compartment, resisting the urge to kick one of the women that regarded her and Kageyama oddly. They were wearing funeral attire: he was in a formal black suit and she was in a simple black dress that she wanted to throw away.

Kageyama's parents were on a business trip. They wouldn't be attending.

"This is going to be rough," she mumbled.

Kageyama straightened up. "What'd you say?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

Silence emerged between them once again. The only sound was a baby crying in a seat somewhere behind Mikaela. She tilted her head towards the window, watching the raindrops hit the glass and fall, judging them to see which droplet would reach the edge of the window fastest.

Her phone buzzed. She tilted the screen towards herself to read the message.

 _ **Yamaguchi Tadashi (11:34):** Hey Kaela! Hope everything goes okay today! Text me if you need me!_

Her fingers were shaking so badly that Mikaela had trouble typing out a response.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (11:36):** Thanks Yams, I'll text you later_

"Who's that?" Kageyama asked quietly, propping his elbow up on the arm rest and leaning his head into his palm.

"Yamaguchi," she replied tiredly, tucking her phone into the pocket of her Karasuno jacket that was slung over her shoulders. Mikaela tilted her head back against the seat, glaring up at the pattern's on the train's ceiling. "I don't want to do this."

"Why?"

"Don't want to see her," Mikaela grumbled.

Kageyama knew immediately who she was talking about. "We'll avoid her. You don't have to talk to her."

She hummed in agreement, meeting Kageyama's gaze. "Okay."

"Guess what."

"What? Don't make me guess."

"Playoffs are in a month."

Her face split into a grin and she sat up. "You're right. They start October 25th, right?" He nodded, smirking at her. "Ooh, I'm so excited, I'm going to have to start looking up all the teams. This'll be wonderful. Oh! And there's going to be so much more information because they're all bigger, more popular teams. This is awesome. And-" She paused when she noticed Kageyama smirking at her. "What?"

"Nothing."

She forced a smile. "Thanks, Tobio."

He shrugged. "Yeah."

Another half an hour passed before they finally made it to Tokyo. At the station, Mikaela's grandmother picked them up- her father's mother, Mikaela Huka. She was a quiet lady with firm opinions and a kind voice when she did choose to make her opinions known. Mikaela never wanted to see her angry. She hugged both of them briefly before guiding them to her car.

"I hope you're doing alright," Huka said softly, turning to glance at them briefly from the front seat before turning back to the front and starting the engine. "We're only down for the week, but feel free to call us."

"Thanks," Mikaela said hollowly, blinking. "When do you fly back to Canada?"

"Thursday."

"When'd you arrive?"

"Two days ago. Friday." She sighed wistfully, carefully navigating the car out of the parking lot. "We've been meaning to come down and visit, but I wish it wasn't under such unfortunate circumstances."

Mikaela stayed silent in the back seat, biting her lip. She could already feel tears burning behind her eyes. The rest of the car ride to the funeral home was in silence, until they pulled to a stop in the parking lot and Huka turned around again to face them. "Dear, they wanted to know if you'd like to make a speech. In honor of your father."

Her breath hitched in her throat, and she wanted to scream _no,_ but something was holding her back. "Uh..." She turned to Kageyama helplessly. "I'll probably cry," she said lamely. Kageyama took her hand in his and squeezed.

Huka smiled weakly. "Darling, we'd be surprised if you didn't."

The underlying message of _we'd appreciate it but we won't force you_ hung in the air without needing to be said. "I'll try," she said honestly, shrugging. "But no guarantees."

"That's the most we can ask of you, dear," Huka replied softly. "Come on, let's go. Your mother has been waiting for you."

The tears that had been forcing their way to her eyes seemed to dry almost instantly with Huka's statement. Mikaela gritted her teeth together, let go of Kageyama's hand, and hopped out of the car, briefly playing victim to the rain until she made it inside. There were already a handful of people there- Huka had mentioned something about sixty people in attendance?- but as Mikaela arrived, she received multiple statements of "I'm so sorry" and "I hope you're alright" and so many other things that made Mikaela want to tear her hair out.

The funeral home was of average size, she assumed, and it was nicely furnished with a large table of various snacks and drinks. _Mom planned this well,_ she thought bitterly, too frustrated to eat. She didn't want to touch anything that her mother might have prepared.

Then she saw the coffin on the other side of the room.

Suddenly, the room felt way too small, and there were way too many people there, and the air was hot, and something was closing in around her throat, and this was all too much and she couldn't _breathe-_

"Kaisha."

Something warm touched her arm and she blinked, turning towards the touch. Kageyama stood next to her with his hand on her arm, his eyebrows raised in confusion. "I can't do this," she whispered. Panic was starting to set in. Her voice sounded hoarse. "I can't."

"You don't have to," he assured her quickly, taking both her hands in his as she started to shake her head rapidly. "Hey. Listen to me. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, okay? I'll make a speech if you want."

Mikaela faltered. "You hate public speaking."

"Yeah," Kageyama agreed, letting go of one of her hands to rub the back of his head. "But if you want..." He didn't look pleased about it at all, and Mikaela nearly laughed. He hated public speaking, but was still willing to do it if it would help her?

"I'll do it," she said quietly, her voice still shaky. "At least, I'll try." She glanced around him at the coffin and resisted the urge to vomit. "I'll try."

"Okay." He exhaled slowly. "You can do this."

She nodded firmly, swallowing down the bitter taste in her mouth. Everyone was starting to make their way to their seats, so Mikaela followed, heading to the front row where she had a seat for Kageyama and herself reserved. They sat down on the hard wooden bench, and Mikaela leaned close enough to Kageyama so that their shoulders touched.

"Hello, Kaisha."

Mikaela's resolve nearly crumbled right then and there. "Hi, Mom," she managed, trying to shrink back into the seat. Kageyama straightened up and shifted forwards, trying to put as much of himself between Mikaela and her mother as he could. Her mother glared at Kageyama, but he just glared right back.

"We have something to discuss later," Monomi said with a tight frown, turning to glance at her daughter. "It's about a potential surgery."

She straightened up. "Surgery?"

Her mother nodded. "I'll explain the details after the service, but it could get you off of those God-awful pills and have you fully functional in a few weeks following."

Mikaela's jaw dropped, and she glanced back at Kageyama, who had an expression of surprise on her face that she was sure mirrored her own. Monomi nodded to both of them, then turned and moved to the other side of the room, where she'd be sitting. Mikaela was willing to bet that the people here were confused as to why the ex-wife of the deceased wasn't sitting with their daughter, but she didn't care.

The man who moved to the podium at the front, by the coffin, was very monotone. Whatever speech he gave seemed to be the standard funeral speech, but Mikaela couldn't bring herself to tune him out.

This was it. This was her goodbye.

Her grandmother, to her surprise, stood up and trotted towards the podium. The man lowered the microphone for her and she smiled carefully. "Rousagi was a wonderful man," she began, and Mikaela could already feel tears springing to her eyes. "He was such a beautiful child. One that would always make an attempt to include everyone in a game. He was the child who never stopped smiling." Huka paused, coughing into a handkerchief, and then resumed her speech. "This was a tragedy that shocked us all. He had so much more life to live. He was taken from us much too young."

Kageyama squeezed her hand. She squeezed back.

"When he moved to Japan in order to pursue his career and learn more about his culture, we were thrilled," Huka continued, her misty eyes scanning the crowd of people in front of her. "That was about twenty years ago. We saw him at least once a year, I believe, and we watched his life grow. Then, to our delight," now, she indicated her husband (Mikaela's grandfather) who was sitting across the room, "we got to see him raise a daughter, who carries his spirit in her today."

Huka paused again, shifting where she stood, before concluding her speech. "We loved him. He was one of the most loving people I will ever know." Mikaela's grandmother smiled softly, her eyes watery, and then she nodded towards Mikaela before stepping away from the podium.

Mikaela squeezed Kageyama's hand one last time before she let go, and suddenly she felt so much colder. On shaky legs, she stood up from her seat and made her way over to the podium. Her grandmother squeezed her shoulder lightly before trotting back to her seat.

She turned to face the audience, and her heart seized. "H- Hi," she stammered, making eye contact with Kageyama, who nodded encouragingly. "My name is, uh, Mikaela Kaisha. I'm... his daughter."

Mikaela paused, exhaling slowly. She surveyed the room. "I don't know some of you," Mikaela admitted, "but thank you for coming, uh, in honor of my father. It would've meant a lot to him."

Kageyama nodded at her and rolled his finger in a circle. _Keep going._

"He was the best father I could've asked for," she said, and tears burned behind her eyes. She pushed on, not knowing how long her speech would be but knowing that her father would've been proud of her. "My grandmother was right. He cared so much, about anyone or anything in his life. He is- was, crap, sorry-" she sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "He was the most hardworking person..."

 _You can do this, you can do this-_

"He was the most hardworking person I know," Mikaela repeated, her voice cracking. "I miss him."

Tears slipped down her cheeks.

"I miss him," she said again, using the back of her hand to clear her cheeks. "And I'm terrified as hell, being up here right now, but I feel like he'd be proud of me." This earned her a few weak chuckles. "He was always interested in what I did and he always wanted to be a part of my life, wherever he could. Even when... Even when he lost his job, he took on so much work and did so much. And he always tried to make time for me."

She made brief eye contact with her mother, and as much as she wanted to yell at her or call her out, she knew that this wasn't the right time. Not at her father's funeral.

"I miss him more everyday," Mikaela said with a sigh. "Sometimes I think I'll be okay, but then I hear a... a song we used to sing, or... or a- or see a place we used to visit together, and it hits me all over again."

Yeah, there were no stopping these tears. Not anymore.

She inhaled and exhaled shakily, trying to calm herself. "He deserved so much more than he got," she whispered, her voice cracking again. "I miss..."

 _I miss him._

"Yeah," she hiccuped, blinking rapidly. "I miss him."

Mikaela couldn't stand being up there any longer, so she turned away from the podium and shuffled back to her seat, sitting down heavily next to Kageyama and wiping at her eyes. She sighed, trying to calm herself down.

"You did good," Kageyama murmured, taking her hand in his. She didn't reply, but it didn't look like he had expected one.

The ceremony finished. Mikaela received plenty more apologies and condolences, so she tried her best to smile through them. She knew that her speech had been all over the place, but no one commented on it, so she never brought it up.

She was more than ready to go home, and her grandmother approached her and said she was ready to take them both to the train station. Mikaela was about to agree when she spotted her mother out of the corner of her eye, and the prospect of a potential surgery suddenly flashed into her head. After assuring her grandmother that she wanted to leave momentarily, she moved through the throng of people towards her mother.

"You said something about a surgery," Mikaela began, eager to finish the conversation before it had even begun.

Monomi crossed her arms. "Yes. I've spoken with a doctor down at one of the hospitals in Tokyo who is well educated in... situations similar to the one you're in now. I've persuaded him to perform a surgery on you."

Mikaela knew exactly what 'persuaded' meant but she bit her lip and asked, "what would that... what would I have to do? What would happen?"

"From what he told me, it's a long operation that they'll put you under for, but it's going to put something in your legs that should help your body successfully manage those cramps you keep getting," her mother explained tersely, shrugging. "You'd be in a wheelchair for about a week after, maybe crutches for another week, then you'd be fine."

"Seriously?" Kageyama asked, wide-eyed. "Could she play volleyball?"

Monomi's nostrils flared and she knit her eyebrows together. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she quipped.

"So I'll be able to," Mikaela said, not missing her mother's deliberate avoidance of Kageyama's question. "I'll be able to play volleyball again? Like, soon?"

"That's not important here, Kaisha," her mother said sharply, and Mikaela flinched.

Kageyama stepped forwards. "How soon?" he asked, making quick eye contact with her. Mikaela nodded eagerly.

"The soonest he can do is the 27th." Their eyes widened in surprise. "Of October," she added, and Mikaela deflated slightly. "He's a very busy person. Is that a yes, then?"

"Yes," she said without hesitation. "Yes, please."

"Alright. He said the procedure will commence at 9 pm. You're to be at the hospital for mid-afternoon so they can do basic check-ups and X-rays." Monomi frowned, glancing briefly at her phone. "Expect no ride down from me."

Mikaela nodded. "Thank you," she said quietly.

"And that is what I wanted to tell you before your hooligan teammates interrupted," her mother added with a snap, nearly making Mikaela flinch again. She shot a frosty glare at Kageyama. "Kids these days have no respect."

"They were defending me," she shot back. Mikaela met her mother's glare with her own. "You shouldn't have given them any reason to."

They glared at each other for at least another ten seconds before Monomi straightened up, regaining her formal posture. "I will text you the details," she said coldly. "Don't forget."

 _How could I?_

She strutted away, and as soon as her mother was gone, Mikaela whipped around and grabbed Kageyama's wrists. "Kags," she gasped, grinning from ear to ear, "is this a dream?"

"You're going to be able to play again," Kageyama replied, and he was grinning too. Surprisingly, his grin was more happy than scary. Mikaela lunged at him in a hug, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, spinning her around. Kind of out of place for a funeral home, but Mikaela wasn't even thinking about that.

 _I'm going to play again._

* * *

The week after, Karasuno had another training camp day with the Tokyo crowd- including Fukurodani and Nekoma. The day was long and exhausting, but the boys were having plenty of fun and Mikaela was enjoying herself as much as they were. Besides, it was October 1st, and she was counting down the days until her surgery.

The day after the funeral, at volleyball practice, a very excited Mikaela told her coaches and team that she was scheduled for a surgery that would let her play volleyball again. The boys had been just as excited as her- Hinata had actually tackled her to the ground by accident- but not until she promised to finish out the year as their manager.

All in all, she had a lot to look forward to. It was hard to keep her head up since her father's death, but she had no choice but to keep looking forward.

"Oi, Temper-san!"

Mikaela groaned. "What now, Kuroo?"

Their practice for the day was wrapping up and everyone was pitching in to help clean up, but it seemed the Nekoma captain had a different idea. "When're your playoffs?" he asked, cocking his head.

"Why ask me?"

"Because anytime I ask someone on your team, they either have no idea or start to rant about how they're going to take down every team."

Mikaela rolled her eyes but couldn't hide her grin. "We start the 25th, semis are the 26th, and finals are the 27th. Yours aren't until November, right?"

"Yep," Kuroo said, grinning. "Wanna come cheer us on?"

"Not really-"

"Kaisha!"

Mikaela spun around quickly at the use of her first name, confused, and came face-to-face with Kageyama. "Kags? What?" she asked, bewildered.

He was squeezing a volleyball so tightly in his hands that Mikaela was surprised that it didn't pop. "The finals, the 27th," he forced out, his expression portraying his panic. "Your surgery!"

It finally dawned on her. "Holy shit!"

"Surgery?" Kuroo asked, his eyebrows at the top of his forehead. "What's this about a surgery?"

"Holy crap, what do I do?" Mikaela cried out, pressing her hands against her temple. "Mom'll be so pissed if I have to reschedule! She won't let me reschedule!"

"It's not until the evening," Kageyama pointed out, "but you have to be there in the afternoon-"

"Time out," Kuroo snapped, glaring at the two of them, "that's if you even make it to the finals-"

The cousins rounded on him and glared in unison, their midnight blue eyes narrowed into matching expressions of frustration. "We will," Mikaela and Kageyama growled at the same time.

Kuroo visibly shuddered and watched in disbelief as the two returned to their banter. "Christ, that's terrifying," he mumbled, running one of his hands through his hair.

"Their double glare?" Hinata popped up next to the Nekoma captain with Kenma in tow. "Yeah, that one sucks. Oi! Bakayama! What-"

"Hinata, the finals for our playoffs are on the same day as my- my thing," Mikaela forced out, now conscious of the various set of ears following their conversation.

"Your thing?" Hinata asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded vigorously. "My thing."

"Your-" His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "Oh! Oh crap!"

"Yeah! What do I do?" Mikaela swallowed, trying to dispel her panic to no avail. "I can catch a later train, but I don't have any relatives in Tokyo that can possibly pick me up and take me where I need to go! I was going to walk originally, but that'd take too long, especially if I catch a later train-"

"Hold up," Kuroo said quickly, waving his arms. "We're from Tokyo, we can probably help you out."

The trio of panickers paused. "Really?" Mikaela questioned.

He nodded. "As long as you tell me what for and why."

She scowled. "No, I'll-"

"Kaisha," Kageyama insisted, frowning at her. "Don't be stubborn."

Her jaw dropped. "Says you!"

"You're both stubborn," Sugawara said with a sigh, sliding into the conversation quite smoothly. "Kuroo, are you harassing our first years?"

Kuroo raised his arms in surrender. "No! I'm trying to offer help!"

Mikaela turned to her vice captain and recounted her realization about the coinciding dates as quickly and discretely as she could. Sugawara's eyes widened when she told him, and he sighed. "So, catching a later train would work as long as you got a ride from the train station to the hospital?" he asked.

"Hospital?" Kuroo asked, exchanging a confused glance with Kenma.

Sugawara ignored him. "I might have a relative in Tokyo who could pick you up..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "It all depends on her work schedule. I'm not sure. Is that why you're talking to Kuroo?"

"No," she snapped.

"Yes!" he protested.

Sugawara threw his hands in the air. "Make up your minds!"

"If I know when, where, and why, I don't see any reason why Kenma and I can't pick her up," the Nekoma captain supplied, nudging Kenma.

"Do I have to?" the setter complained.

"That makes sense," Sugawara said with a sigh. "Mikaela, as long as you're willing to suck it up, this is probably your best bet. Of course, you could always just miss the finals-"

Mikaela pinched her lips together and sighed. "No. I won't miss the finals. Kuroo, Kenma, I'll take you up on that ride."

"Why me?" Kenma whined, his shoulders slumping.

Kuroo nudged him. "Okay, great. Where are we taking you and why?"

"One of the hospitals in Tokyo," she said, sharing a glance with Kageyama. "It's for a surgery that'll get me back to playing volleyball hopefully in the next school year."

"Your injury," Kuroo said, their conversation back in the first week of training camp coming back to his mind. "What's your injury?"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does," Kuroo said, pushing Kenma forwards.

"I don't care," the setter grumbled.

"What happened to you?" the Nekoma captain pushed.

Mikaela sighed and told him. By the time she was done her wonderful story about what led her to her injury and then transferring to Karasuno, Kuroo looked like someone had smacked him in the face. This was followed by a five minutes banter ("How could you keep something so cool to yourself?!" "It was _traumatizing_ , Kuroo! Shut up!") until Sugawara physically dragged Mikaela out of the conversation, because she was holding up the bus and the rest of them just wanted to go home.

That was another two added to the lengthy list of people who knew about her prosthetic.

Surprisingly, Mikaela didn't mind.

* * *

 **Hello! I love you all!**

 **Sayori1412:** Kahano's a whole dozen shades of annoying, but I'm trying to go for realistic- and in her eyes, Mikaela's a problem. Ah, well, what can ya do ;) The lack of Tsukishima in this chapter hurt my heart but I didn't want to force anything. Sigh. Thank you as always for your wonderful review! :)

 **SumCheeze:** Her mother's trying for redemption in her own twisted way. To be honest, I've thought about so many ways that their interactions could go and what she could do, but in her own way, Monomi's trying to prove to her daughter that she can still be of use to her. It's not working very well. No Kahano in this chapter, but there's a plan for her in the next few... ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **jily shiper:** No trust me I was trying not to giggle while writing the reveal because they're just so frickin funny ugh I love them ;-; Yeah, Tsukishima is an oddball and keeping him in character is hard, especially when I'm trying to show that he's developing feelings?! Ugh... Thank you kindly for your review! ;)

 **snowlikestardust:** Mikaela Protection Squad! Thank you very much for your review! :D

 **Huohua Duvessa:** I like the idea of overprotective senpais! That's actually what drew me in to including Sugawara in this chapter! I'd love to include them more... we'll have to see where I can fit them in, thank you for the idea! Thank you so much for your lovely review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** I hope this chapter didn't disappoint, even though it was a (slightly) positive interaction with her mother! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **I'm unsure if there will be an update next week. I've got a very important stressful event this Saturday, plus I have exams next week, so if you don't get an update on Sunday, that is why. You have been warned.**

 **Next chapter will finally be getting back to the plot! About time... ;D**

 **I hope to hear from you!~**


	28. The Dispute

**Thank you so much to S. yons, Sayori1412, Shadow Wolf 15846, SumCheeze, Huohua Devessa, Sapphiresushi, Onesie Queen, WinneThePoohLover, Aster Sipping Waterfalls, EatMyBubbles, LegendaryLight, Tododorkis, and Gloeckche for your support!**

* * *

It was her tenth night (in total, not in a row) at the Tsukishima's when Mikaela finally worked up the nerve to ask Tsukishima what she'd been thinking. "Hey, Tsukishima," she called from her spot on the couch as he passed by the living room. He paused and glared at her. "Are we friends?"

"No," he called back with a scowl on his face, heading into the kitchen. There was a brief shuffling of objects before he returned to the living room, adjusting his glasses. "No, we're most certainly not," he confirmed.

"Can we be?" Mikaela asked, cocking her head. "Friends, I mean."

He scoffed. "We know nothing about each other."

"Actually, you know more about me than almost anyone else," she contradicted.

"I mean, simple things."

"Then why don't you ask?"

Tsukishima paused, glaring at her, before his glare softened and he sat down in the chair across from her. "What do you propose?" he said tiredly.

Her eyes lit up. "Seriously? You're up for being friends?"

"Well, otherwise you'd pester me all night and that'd just be annoying, so I'm getting it over with now."

Mikaela rolled her eyes at the typical Tsukishima response. "How about twenty questions?" she asked, and Tsukishima waved his hand to show he didn't care. "Fine. Favourite food?"

He paused. " _That's_ your first question?"

"Yep."

"...Strawberries," he muttered, and Mikaela had to fight the grin trying to appear on her face. "What's your favourite colour?"

She laughed. "That's your first question?"

"Shut up. I'll go to bed-"

"No, wait." Mikaela sighed, sinking into the couch. "I'd say black, but I'm not sure if you're the type that'll chew me out because 'black isn't a colour, it's a shade'." He rolled his eyes. Her voice softened. "Green," she said quietly, "like a dark forest green. How about you?"

Tsukishima didn't answer right away, holding her gaze for a while before lacing his fingers and tearing his gaze away. "Blue," he replied quietly. "Dark blue."

Their banter continued for a while, jumping through questions like favourite books or movies, favourite desserts or subjects, before Mikaela realized how tired she was and admitted that she should probably get to sleep. Tsukishima made sure to point out that she had used eleven questions out of twenty and he had used ten, and Mikaela didn't bother complaining because at least he was opening up to her, bit by bit.

She never even realized that his favourite colour had been the colour of her eyes.

* * *

They were so close. It was October 10th, just a little over two weeks from the playoffs, and Mikaela was just as excited as the rest of the team to _finally_ play the team they were up against, Johzenji. Her guess was just that the team wanted to play another game for real- their last training camp with Nekoma, Fukurodani, and the surrounding teams was just over a week ago and she was itching for an official game.

Mikaela fidgeted anxiously at her desk, trying to pay attention to the English lesson but to no avail. They were going over synchronized attacks in practice tonight and she was super excited to help coordinate positions.

"Shoot," her teacher muttered suddenly. "I forgot to photocopy the homework." The class cheered, but she shook her head. "I'll go do that now. I'll take someone to help me out- how about you, Tsukishima. Review the lesson while I'm gone."

Mikaela snickered to herself as the blond groaned but didn't argue, standing up in his seat and following the teacher out of the classroom. She smirked at him as he passed and he glared at her. They left, and the classroom immediately erupted into chatter, because no one was planning on reviewing any sort of lesson.

Yamaguchi turned around in his seat so he could talk to her. "Were you paying attention?"

"Nope," she replied.

"Darn it," he muttered. "I forget what she said the English translation for a bunch of words was."

She jerked her chin at Tsukishima's open notebook. "Tsukishima probably copied them down."

Yamaguchi's eyes lit up. "Oh, great idea." As he turned around, Mikaela glanced up at the class and caught Kahano's gaze. The auburn-haired girl was glaring at her again, and her best friend was muttering into her ear. Yamaguchi turned back to her. "Kaela, what-"

"Shit," she mumbled as Kahano and her friend both stood up from their desks.

"What?" Yamaguchi turned and his face paled. "Oh crap."

Kahano was making a beeline for her and Mikaela resisted the temptation to hide under her desk so she could avoid this conversation entirely. "What do you want, Kahano?" she said tiredly as the auburn-haired girl stopped in front of her desk.

"I want an apology," she said firmly.

Mikaela shrugged. "Okay, I'm sorry."

"Sincerely," Kahano's friend pushed, glaring at her.

The manager raised her eyebrows. "Look, I've already apologized. I don't know why you're still pissed at me-"

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by Kahano's friend, a girl with pin-straight black hair and a pretty face. "You ruined her confession," the girl said icily, "she's got plenty reason to be mad at you."

"I apologized," Mikaela snapped. "I honestly didn't mean to. What more do you want me to do?"

Kahano snorted. "You're a filthy liar, for one thing."

"Liar?" Mikaela could hear her voice rising. She barely acknowledged Yamaguchi's hand on her arm. "Excuse me? I never lied."

"You told me you didn't like him and didn't see him that way," the auburn-haired girl hissed, her eyes narrowed into slits. "But you're always hanging out with him and he'd rather hang out with you than _me._ All you two do is spend time around each other. You can't try and lie and tell me nothing's going on."

Mikaela felt her cheeks burn. "I never lied!" she snapped, crossing her arms so she wouldn't be tempted to lunge across the desk and punch her. "There's nothing going on between us. I genuinely didn't mean to ruin your confession, I'm sorry."

"It wouldn't have changed his answer, anyways," Yamaguchi added.

God bless his soul. Kahano rounded on Yamaguchi, shoving her hands down on the desk. "How would _you_ know that?" she snarled.

To his credit, the pinch server didn't back down. "Because I'm his best friend," Yamaguchi replied calmly. "He never intended on returning your feelings whether Mikaela had accidentally butted in or not."

Mikaela could've cried- this boy was a _saint._ "I-"

"Why?!" Kahano hissed, throwing her hands in the air, her eyes filled with fury. "Why would he rather be around someone like _you?"_ It felt like venom was dripping from her words. Mikaela did her best not to flinch. "What've you got that I don't?"

Mikaela shrugged. "A brain?"

"Bitch," Kahano's friend quipped.

The black-haired girl raised her shoulders. "Sorry, first thing that came to mind."

"Exactly, you're a bitch," Kahano said, glaring at her. "So why would he pick you over me?"

"Takes one to know one," Mikaela grumbled, and Kahano's eyes flashed with fury. "And, by the way, he never 'picked' anyone. He just turned you down. Accept it already and stop badgering me about it."

Yamaguchi nodded. "Yeah, leave Kaela out of this."

Kahano looked frustrated enough to tear her hair out. She shot a desperate look at her best friend, who was glaring so fiercely at Mikaela that she wouldn't have been surprised if she turned to ice. The entire class seemed to be holding their breath collectively. "It's not fair," she cried out, miserable. "I don't get it, why would he hang out with you over me? I'm..." She trailed off.

Ice Girl grabbed Kahano's hand. "You did nothing wrong," she said quickly, and Mikaela almost admired how much she stuck up for her best friend. Almost. "She's just a bitch who always gets her way."

Mikaela's eyebrows shot to the top of her head. "Excuse me? You know nothing about me."

Her lip curled up in a sneer. "I bet you live out of your parents' pockets," she mocked, and Mikaela felt her heart speed up in her chest. _Don't you dare go there._ "They're just like you, I bet. Cold-hearted and don't care about anyone but themselves, not even their own daughter-"

She stood up so fast that the desk almost toppled over. Several students jumped in surprise from the noise. "Kaela," Yamaguchi hissed, grabbing her wrist. She shook him off, her midnight blue eyes trained on the girl next to Kahano.

"Yuka, that's enough," Kahano mumbled, tugging on her friend's sleeve.

Yuka shook her head. "No, Kahano-chan, this bitch needs to know what we're all thinking."

"Don't," Mikaela said in a low voice, glaring at her. "Don't you dare talk about me like you know anything."

"Yeah? Then stop acting like such a privileged bitch," Yuka snarled, shaking off Kahano's feeble attempt to hold her back. "No, Kahano, get off me, she needs to get what's coming to her. She's been a bitch to you."

Mikaela was getting close to snapping. "Back down."

"How come you wear leggings, huh?" the dark-haired girl said loudly, jabbing a finger at Mikaela's covered legs. "You have to be different from the rest of us? You need to stand out? You need to be better than the rest of us slobs, huh?"

"You don't know anything!" she yelled.

"Really? Because I know you're rude, arrogant, and think you're better than the rest of the world," Yuka countered, leaning closer to her. "Is it because you're foreign? Got a fancy name? Are you going to go home crying to your Daddy? Maybe he'll buy you another set of _leggings-"_

 _Fuck it._

Mikaela lunged across the desk and punched Yuka straight across the jaw.

The girl tumbled backwards, and Kahano lunged out, trying to catch Yuka before she fell into the desk. She cupped her hands to her jaw, her mouth opened in a gasp. "You-"

"I've got a _metal leg,_ asshole!"

If the class wasn't surprised before, they certainly were gaping like fish now.

"And my dad's dead," Mikaela snapped angrily, her voice dangerously close to cracking, "thanks for asking."

A heavy silence followed, broken only by Mikaela's heavy breathing and Yuka's ragged sobs as she cupped her chin. Mikaela reached a hand up to her face and felt tears on her cheeks. _Ah, shit._ She rubbed at her eyes furiously. Yamaguchi had grabbed her wrist, like he expected her to lunge again. She didn't make eye contact with him- Mikaela was having a glare-off with Yuka, who was staring at her with red-rimmed eyes.

"What on Earth is going on?!"

Of course, _now_ the teacher finally managed to come back, with Tsukishima in tow- Mikaela could see them out of the corner of her eye.

"Mikaela, why are you up? Yuka? What's going on?" The teacher's questions were rapid-fire, and no one was answering, instead choosing to stare at either Yuka on the floor or Mikaela. "Yuka, are you bleeding?" she demanded, stepping forwards. "What's going on?"

"Mikaela?"

Tsukishima's voice was like music to her ears. She finally moved her gaze from Yuka up to the blond. "Hey," she muttered, meeting his eyes and then immediately dropping her gaze.

"You're..." He moved towards her and extended his hand, before he thought the better of it and dropped his hand again. Mikaela's heart ached, and she couldn't figure out why.

"If no one answers, I will give everyone detention," the teacher threatened.

Mikaela turned towards her. "I punched her." Before the teacher could even begin to ask why, Mikaela pushed past Tsukishima and towards the door. "I'm going to the office," she said over her shoulder, "because I'm assuming that where you'll send me anyways."

She resisted the urge to slam the door behind her. Her knuckles stung.

In spite of herself, she grinned.

 _Worth it._

* * *

The school nurse came down to the office with Yuka in tow. Mikaela had to resist the urge to grin.

Their teacher eventually showed up, muttering something that Mikaela couldn't catch. She led them both into a section of the principal's office and sat them down behind a desk, taking a seat on the opposite side. Mikaela nearly groaned when she saw the principal walk in, shutting the door behind him and taking a seat next to their teacher. He sighed, folding his arms. "So, who wants to tell me what happened?"

A heartbeat of silence followed before Yuka spoke up. "She punched me."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. The principal turned towards her. "Is that true?"

"Yep."

"Why'd you punch her?"

Mikaela slumped further into her seat. Personally, she didn't care what kind of punishment they gave her- she just wanted to leave. "She was insulting me and my family, and it was especially bothersome because she was insulting my recently deceased father."

She saw Yuka's mouth drop- apparently she hadn't mentioned the 'recently' part. "I'm sorry for your loss," her teacher said quietly, and Mikaela shrugged, staring at the floor. "But no matter how much you were provoked and for whatever reasons, physical harassment is never something we can overlook."

"I'm aware," Mikaela replied.

Yuka piped up. "She was being rude to me and Kahano. That's why I was getting defensive. And I didn't even say anything bad."

Mikaela turned her head so she could glare at her. "Nothing bad? I quote, 'they're just like you, cold-hearted and probably don't care about you'. Say what you want, Yuka, but the entire class heard you."

The principal raised his eyebrows. "Is that true, Yuka?"

"Well, she said some shitty stuff too," Yuka mumbled.

He chose to ignore her word choice. "That's not what I asked."

"Yeah, well, how was I supposed to know her dad was dead? And that she had a... a fucking metal leg?" Yuka spat, glaring at Mikaela. "It's not like she's friends with anyone, nobody knows anything about her."

Mikaela was about to object and point out that Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were two of her closest friends when the teacher cut her off. "Pardon me if I heard wrong, but you have a... metal leg?" she asked.

"It's called a prosthetic," Mikaela said icily, trying (and failing) to not sound sarcastic. "Yes."

"Well, she always wears leggings, so how were we supposed to know?" Yuka complained. "You can't blame me for that."

"Do I need to be here while you work out my punishment?" Mikaela interrupted. "I was trying to review the words that you taught us today in English, I'd love to get back to doing that."

The principal turned to her. "You don't care for what your punishment is going to be?"

"As long as it doesn't include me abstaining from club activities," she said quickly, standing up from her seat. "Which it shouldn't, because this issue doesn't involve grades or a feud between clubs, so there's nothing that would involve pulling me from my duties. If that becomes an option for punishment, I'd be happy to stay and argue with you for as long as necessary that I don't need to abstain from club activities."

 _God, I'm sounding more like my mother every day._

The principal and her teacher shared a long look before the principal turned back to her. "You can return to class, Mikaela," he said quietly.

Yuka jerked up in her seat. "What? You're letting her off, just like that? How-"

Mikaela didn't hear anything else she had to say. She was already out of the office. _That went well,_ she mused to herself, nodding to the secretary behind the desk before she exited the office. _Considering I punched her in front of the entire class._

"Mikaela!"

She nearly jumped in surprise.

"Tsukishima? Yams? What're you-"

"Are you okay?" the pinch server said immediately, rushing at her and grabbing her in a hug, nearly squeezing the breath out of her. "Everyone in class is talking about it, we left because we wanted to make sure you were okay- God, Mikaela, how could she say that stuff to you? And you handled that like a champ! I mean, you shouldn't have punched her, but she deserved it, that was a good punch-"

"Yams, I can't breathe," she choked out, and Yamaguchi released her. "I'm okay, I promise. They're working out a punishment for me now."

"Punishment? Seriously?" Tsukishima said incredulously, and Mikaela turned to him, surprised. "After what she said to you?" She raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "Yamaguchi told me."

"Oh. Yeah, as long as they don't prevent me from missing club activities, I don't care," Mikaela said with a shrug. Her lips twisted into a smirk. "Aw, Tsukishima, I didn't know you cared."

His eyebrow twitched. "I don't," he said, "I just think what she said was unreasonably harsh, especially coming from someone who you've done nothing to."

Mikaela paused, oddly touched. "Thanks, Tsukishima."

"Well, she better get suspended or something," Yamaguchi said, determination sketched all over his face. "She was so harsh!"

"It doesn't matter," Mikaela said with a shake of her head. "It's over now anyways."

Yamaguchi pulled her in for another hug. "I hope you're okay, Kaela."

She hugged him back. "I'm good, Yams. Thank you for coming to see me."

They pulled away from each other and turned to Tsukishima, who was looking at the both of them with a weird expression on his face. Feeling bold after her rough situation, Mikaela held out her arms. "You want a hug too?" she joked, grinning.

He scowled, the tips of his ears turning red. "I don't want any sort of contact with you, your Highness. I'll probably get the plague."

"Oh, come on, just one hug-"

"Get away from me, Mikaela, don't you dare-"

"Who cares about the plague?"

"It killed a third of Europe, Kaela!"

"Yeah, but that was Europe! This is Japan!"

"That's not how it works!"

In the end, she never got a hug out of Tsukishima, but she was grinning too much to care.

* * *

They ended up giving her two weeks of detention.

It would've been suspension, easily, but Mikaela was surprised to learn that several of her peers spoke up in her defense that she was provoked and Yuka had deserved it. Yuka ended up getting a few days of detention as well, and she hadn't spoken to Mikaela once since the incident. Mikaela didn't care- if she wasn't willing to apologize, then she wouldn't either.

She had to miss portions of Karasuno's volleyball practices, which was the most upsetting part, but her coaches understood ("Nice punch, Mikaela," Coach Ukai muttered under his breath when she made it to practice late the following day) and the team, to her surprise, became fiercely overprotective. Nishinoya and Tanaka had volunteered to prank Yuka at any available point in the day ("I'm just saying, if someone were to accidentally drop a carton of spoiled milk on her, she'd deserve it!") and Sugawara had actually cracked his knuckles menacingly and volunteered to take care of the situation himself. Daichi had to hold him back.

Yuka had a nasty bruise on her cheek, which she tried to cover up with make-up, but there was only so much she could do. Mikaela's knuckles were kind of sore in the following days, but it was nothing she couldn't handle.

She avoided thinking about detentions and drama by thinking about her surgery, which was rapidly approaching. She was pretty excited. Oh, who was she kidding? She was going to play volleyball again. It was going to be the best thing that had happened to her since her accident.

But was it?

Mikaela tapped her foot repeatedly against the ground as her teacher droned on about something involving quadratics- nothing worth keeping her attention. That last thought rung out in her head like a bell. _Best thing that happened to her since the accident._

Was it, though?

She glanced up, her eyes coming to rest on the back of Tsukishima's head. Her gaze flitted briefly to Yamaguchi, who was leaning over Tsukishima's page to see what notes he'd written down. She thought of the Karasuno team and all the important moments she'd shared with them. She even thought of Kuroo and Kenma from Nekoma, then Bokuto and Akaashi from Fukurodani. She never would've met them if she hadn't come to Karasuno. And she never would've come to Karasuno if...

Mikaela smiled softly, knocking her metal limb against the leg of the table.

Her surgery would be fantastic, sure. It'd be a great opportunity.

But it wasn't the best thing that happened to her since the accident.

Yamaguchi glanced over his shoulder briefly and saw Mikaela staring at him. His eyes lit up and he grinned widely, his freckles flushed out across his cheeks. Mikaela couldn't help but smile back before the pinch server turned around again.

No, this wasn't the best thing since the fire.

She knew exactly what the best thing was.

* * *

 **I lied- I didn't move back to the actual story line yet.**

 **I lied again- I didn't think I'd have time to update this weekend. But I wanted to get this chapter out, and I know it's shorter than usual, but I didn't really want to combine it with something else, so voila! Surprise chapter!**

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you so much! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Sapphiresushi:** Aha I'm glad you liked the funeral speech! Go back to studying! Studying is important! Anyways, thank you kindly for your lovely review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** More Tsukki in this chapter ;) I'm a huge Kuroo fan but I'm afraid the more I draw him into the story the more I'll neglect her connections with the team, I just love him so much that he's all I'd write about XD Thank you, as always, for your review! :D

 **Huohua Devessa:** Now that I look back on it, I totally should've shown more interactions of Mikaela with Fukurodani and other Nekoma players... Ugh, regrets T^T Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **SumCheeze:** Curious about Kahano? I hope this chapter was interesting, then ;) She's got the whole team on her side and she's slowly starting to realize that! Thank you as always for your lovely review! :D (And thank you for the luck!)

 **S. yons:** As horribly devastating as this would be for the surgery to be a trick and Monomi's up to something again, that's not the case this time. Mikaela's crappy mother is trying to make up for her actions in a weird way, because she's got too much pride to try and apologize. Not like Mikaela would accept her apology anyways. Ugh, I love Kageyama so much T^T Thank you so much for your kind review! :D

 **Maybe I'll see y'all next week? Hopefully...**

 **Much love!**


	29. The Nosebleed

**Thank you to Sayori1412, hannymae, manga. geek. 3, Zoreux, Shadow Wolf 15846, Huohua Duvessa, jily shiper, Sum Cheeze, Swaggishima, Eventhedarkestlightshines, Feliciteria, Celestial-Maiden703, nvTam, heyitsleelee, TommyNHR, strawjoonie, HimeGee17, firstclasstrash, miss. kain, BarleyRice, hanoodbg, and DOLLYkillKiller for your much loved support! :D**

* * *

Mikaela was too excited to sit still on their way to Sendai City Gymnasium.

It was finally October 25th- finally time for their playoffs. Why such a long break between qualifiers and playoffs anyways? When she had looked it up, she realized it was because the qualifiers were spread out depending on the area (there were a heck of a lot of teams, which led to a heck of a lot of playoffs) so the most recent qualifiers had just finished up two weeks ago.

The bus ride was tense, and Mikaela wasn't surprised. If they lost, it'd be the third years' last volleyball game. Regardless, she didn't expect them to lose: not to their first match, not to Aoba Johsai, not to Shiratorizawa. Not to anyone.

Their first match was against a school called Johzenji. From what she'd learned, the team had a reputation for horsing around on court and keeping things as enjoyable as they could. She'd even managed to dig up an interview with the coach from last year, when the Johzenji team had made it to the semifinals, and discovered that they liked to practice two versus two. She had detailed profiles on most of their players- some were a bit sparse in detail.

The bus pulled to a stop and she was one of the first to her feet, lightly punching Kageyama in the shoulder. "Ready?"

He shrugged. "Yep."

"You could at least sound more excited," she teased, practically skipping down the steps off the bus. "It's playoffs."

"Yep," Kageyama replied casually, and Mikaela sighed, falling into step next to Shimizu.

The team was oddly somber as they headed to the front door, jackets tight around their shoulders and heads down. Mikaela was eager to not be infected with the increasingly depressing atmosphere, but as she was about to tap Hinata on the shoulder, he took off, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Oi! No getting a head start, runt!" Kageyama yelled, tearing off after him.

Mikaela laughed, and the depressing mood that had been suffocating the team seemed to vanish. "Sometimes it really seems that Hinata and Kageyama live on animal instinct," Yamaguchi muttered to himself, and Tsukishima grumbled something about comparing the two of them to insects. Sugawara and Daichi exchanged a look and grinned at each other. Tanaka and Nishinoya burst into snickers.

She turned to Shimizu. "They'll do great today," she said enthusiastically.

"They will," the older manager agreed. Shimizu smiled at her. "You seem awfully chipper."

Mikaela shrugged. "I'm just excited for the game, I guess-"

She stopped as she heard Hinata cry out in surprise. Mikaela and Shimizu glanced up in unison at Hinata, who was staring up at an older boy with a yellow jacket on and slicked-back hair. Red flags immediately popped up in Mikaela's head- Johzenji's school colour was yellow, and she recognized the boy from a good bit of social media stalking. She immediately glanced down at her notebook, flipping to her page for the Johzenji players, because she recognized this guy, he was the _captain-_

"Terushima Yūji," she said aloud, surprised.

Asahi turned to her. "What'd you say?"

She was about to respond when Hinata spoke up again, and Mikaela turned back to the conversation at hand. The Johzenji captain, Terushima, was glancing at the team, his eyes scanning the team. "Oh, you," he said loudly, pushing Hinata out of the way. "And that means- Hey, sweetie!"

For a moment, Mikaela thought his comment was directed at her, and she was about to panic until she saw Shimizu duck her head and glance away. _He's met her before? He's met Hinata before? What's going on-_

"We meet again!" Terushima said brightly, waving at her. "You totally have to give me your phone number this time!"

Nishinoya and Tanaka looked like someone had lit a fire underneath them. They both jumped forwards simultaneously, lunging at the Johzenji captain- who didn't even look the slightest bit phased, what a brat- and somehow managed to stop in midair when a girl stepped between them and their target.

"I'm terribly sorry about that!" she said quickly, her hair falling into her eyes. "Please excuse him!"

"How'd they manage to stop in midair?" Mikaela asked aloud.

Tsukishima snorted. "Who knows?"

Unfortunately, her little comment had drawn Terushima's attention towards her. "Another lady manager?" he said, letting out a low whistle. "You boys sure are lucky! Another cute one!" Mikaela's tongue seemed to swell in her mouth, and her face flushed. Daichi had to grab Kageyama's arm to prevent the setter from doing something stupid to the Johzenji captain, but the scuffle brought Terushima's eyes towards him. "Oh, wouldja look at that! Twins?"

"None of your business," Mikaela hissed through her teeth.

His eyes widened and he grinned. "Kitten's got bite."

 _"Kitten?!"_ Mikaela lunged forwards, and if it wasn't for a hand that was clenched onto her elbow, she would've got within swinging distance. _"Excuse_ me?"

"Feisty," Terushima teased, the piercing in his tongue glinting in the sunlight as he laughed.

"I'll rip that piercing straight out of your-"

The girl- presumably the Johzenji team manager- jumped in again, stepping between Mikaela and her captain. Sugawara and Asahi had Tanaka and Nishinoya restrained. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized, shooting Terushima a stern look before turning back to the Karasuno manager. "He just likes to rile people up, don't take him seriously, please. I'm sorry on his behalf."

Aware of the fact that now two people were holding her back and that the entire team was watching the exchange, Mikaela swallowed her pride and leaned backwards, forcing herself to relax. "It's fine," Mikaela said bitterly, glaring at Terushima with as much frustration as she could muster. "We've got a couple like that on this team too," she added, trying to force a smile.

The girl smiled in relief, apparently happy that Mikaela wasn't going to attempt a possible homicide on her team captain. "Thank you," she said, grinning. She turned to Terushima. "Come on, let's get going."

"See you on the court!" Terushima called over his shoulder.

Only when he was gone and Daichi called to the team that they should head inside did Mikaela allow herself to completely relax. She pulled her arms forward, effectively prying off the grasps of the people holding her back, and turned around to see Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. "You held me back?" she asked in disbelief.

Tsukishima shook his head. "At first it was just Yamaguchi. I kind of wanted to see what you'd do to him."

"He helped as soon as he realized I was having trouble holding on," the pinch server added, shooting a sideways look at his best friend.

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."

"Sorry, Tsukki."

"You should've let me at him," Mikaela grumbled, crossing her arms. "He's such a playboy. Had about three girlfriends in the last year or something like that. Plus he's a huge flirt, even when he was with those girlfriends."

Ennoshita, who had chosen to pop into the conversation, raised his eyebrows. "And you know this how?"

"I don't want to know," Kinoshita muttered as he walked by.

Mikaela grinned. "Found out who he was through the team registration list, found his social media, went through all of his old posts, checked what girls commented on his older posts to get rough time frames of when he was with what girl- he posts a lot, let me tell you- then went through his followers and following to find out what girls he followed, checked the comments on their social media posts, he was commenting almost every time-"

"Christ, you're a professional stalker," Narita said in disbelief.

She frowned. "I prefer the term information generator. You're welcome, by the way."

"We didn't ask," Tsukishima added, rolling his eyes.

Mikaela scowled at him but trailed after them as the team made their way into the gymnasium, moving as a group down the hallway. Kageyama hung back for a moment, touching base with her to make sure she was alright. She assured him that she was, and he squeezed her shoulder briefly before racing to catch up with Hinata at the front of the pack.

Tsukishima nudged her. She glanced up at him. "So," he said casually, smirking, "kitten?"

She scowled, her face flushing. "No! He just- he just bothered me!"

"Well, he wasn't kidding," he muttered, and when Mikaela shot him a weird look, he scowled at her. "He said you were feisty."

Mikaela rolled her eyes, exhaling with a huff. "He was just trying to rile me up."

"Trying to? I think it worked."

"Oh, shut up, Tsukishima."

They followed the rest of the team to the gym that they were scheduled at and set their belongings down. The players started to shed their jackets and track pants so they could start warming up. "Mikaela," Daichi called, waving his hand at her. "Where's Hinata?"

"No idea," she called back.

He sighed. "Can you go find him?"

Mikaela shot him a thumbs up and left the gym, wandering the hallways among dozens of other volleyball players, looking for a short kid with orange hair. She'd always known that volleyball players were tall, but this was just ridiculous: everyone she passed was at least a head taller than her. She wasn't even that short! How come everyone here was significantly taller than her? Hell, she passed a guy wearing the libero uniform for his team and even he was taller than her. Unfair.

Mikaela rounded a corner and saw a burst of orange hair among a crowd of people. "Shoyo!" she called, sliding past two guys who were engaged in their own conversation. "Shoyo-"

She nearly winced when she saw who he was talking to. Oikawa and Iwaizumi were standing across from Hinata, with Iwaizumi in his Aoba Johsai jacket and Oikawa already in his uniform shirt. Next to them was Ushijima Wakatoshi, the ace of the Shiratorizawa team.

And, just her luck, they were all staring at her. "...Hey, Shoyo," she said awkwardly, "Captain's looking for you."

"Mika-chan!" Oikawa trilled, waving at her. "Here to watch us win?"

Ushijima cocked his head. "But that will be us."

"You wish," Mikaela said dryly. Her eyes lit up. "Oh! Oikawa! I have your jacket!"

It felt like someone had walked over her grave. Mikaela physically shuddered as she felt a stare boring into the back of her head, but she tried to ignore it the best that she could as she reached into her backpack and pulled out the neatly folded jacket. She handed it back to Oikawa, who said something about how nice the jacket was, and risked a glance over her shoulder.

Sure enough, a pack of half a dozen girls were glaring daggers at her.

 _Shit. Oikawa's fangirls._

"Since when are you on a first name basis with Hinata?" Iwaizumi asked, shooting a wary glance at the short middle blocker.

She shook her head. "It's not like that."

"I recognize you," Ushijima said suddenly, and Mikaela's blood went cold. "Last year, Junior High finals."

"Must've been someone else," Mikaela said.

"Oh! That was totally her!" Oikawa said loudly.

She shot him a scathing glare, and he shrugged sheepishly, slipping the jacket over his shoulders. "Thanks a lot, Oikawa, now I've got your fangirls _and_ Ushijima on my ass," Mikaela grumbled, looking over her shoulder again. The group of girls hadn't left- God, one of them had their phone out, probably taking pictures.

"Why are you here?" Ushijima asked, ignoring her comment.

"I'm the manager for Karasuno," she replied evenly.

Hinata nodded eagerly. "Yeah! She's awesome!"

"I mean, why are you here and not playing? On your school team?" he clarified, ignoring the weird looks that Oikawa was throwing his way.

"Long story."

"And why did you have Oikawa-san's jacket?"

"Another long story."

Ushijima nodded. "Best of luck, then."

"Thanks," Mikaela said awkwardly. Ushijima nodded to them and turned on his heel, marching away from the group. Mikaela turned back to Oikawa and Iwaizumi and glared at them. "Oi, were you harassing Shoyo?"

"He was," they echoed in unison, pointing at each other. Iwaizumi glared at Oikawa and pulled him into a headlock with the brunet squeaking out protests.

Mikaela resisted the urge to slap herself in the forehead. "You both are ridiculous."

"I'm fine, Kaisha," Hinata reassured her, beaming. "I was just trying to use the bathroom and I got held up."

"Ah, alright, I'll see you back in the gym then."

"Okay!"

Hinata vanished into the men's bathroom and Mikaela turned around to leave. Something occurred to her and she paused, turning back around to Oikawa and Iwaizumi, who were squabbling. "Hey," she called, and they both paused. "You know that we'll face each other in the semi-finals, right?"

"Already checked the brackets," Oikawa said with a nod, pulling himself out of his best friend's headlock. "We know."

"Okay." She paused, feeling awkward, and bit her lip. "As much as I love you guys, I'll be rooting for my own team. You know that, right?"

Iwaizumi snorted. "No, Mikaela, we expected you to rebel against your own team to support us."

"We know!" Oikawa said with a cheery grin. "But you'll still support us too!"

"My team comes first," Mikaela clarified.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes, stepping towards her and ruffling her hair. "We're teasing you. Yeah, you gotta support your team, we get that." He shrugged as Mikaela scowled and swatted his hand away. "You know, I would've preferred it if you came to our school."

"Yeah, you should've been our team manager," Oikawa said with a wide grin, nudging her shoulder.

She frowned at him. "No. No way."

"Why not?"

"Because there's about half a dozen girls behind me who are planning my death just because you're _talking_ to me. I can't even begin to imagine what it'd be like if I was actually on your team."

Oikawa and Iwaizumi both looked behind her. She watched Iwaizumi's face turn into an obvious expression of 'oh shit, not again' and Oikawa's eyes lit up. "Hello, ladies!" he called, waving at them.

There was a chorus of "Oikawa-san!" and "I love you, Oikawa-san!" and many other variations that all involved how beautiful Oikawa was. The brunet basked in the praise as Mikaela shared a look of disgust with Iwaizumi.

"See?" she grumbled. "Your fangirls are ridiculous."

"They're supportive," Oikawa protested. "You-"

"Mikaela should get going," Iwaizumi interrupted. "The games are starting shortly."

"Iwaizumi's right," Mikaela agreed. "I'll get going now."

Oikawa sighed. "All right, bye Mika-chan! Good luck with your game!"

He leaned towards her, arms open like he was going to hug her, and Mikaela immediately stepped back. "Don't you dare, Oikawa, your fans will go nuts," she warned, but Oikawa grinned devilishly and stepped closer. "I swear to God, Oikawa, don't you _dare-"_

"Too late!" he trilled, wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug. She groaned. "Best of luck, Mika-chan!" Mikaela could feel the sharpness of the many glares that were being shot at the back of her head.

Oikawa finally let her go and she sighed, turning to Iwaizumi. "Hug?" she offered, smiling weakly. "It can't get any worse than this."

He chuckled and pulled her towards him, and Mikaela resisted the urge to just sink into his jacket and pass out. "Good luck," he said genuinely, smirking at her as he pulled away. "Don't let Assikawa's fangirls get you down."

Mikaela laughed, punching a fist into her palm. "They don't know what they're dealing with.'

The two older boys waved goodbye just as Hinata came out of the bathroom, so she walked with him all the way back to their gym, keeping a look out for any crazy stalkers. Lucky for her, the girls seemed more interested in Oikawa than they were in harassing her, and she didn't have to deal with anyone on the way back to the gym.

Hinata launched into warm up as soon as they got back, and Mikaela went over to join Coach Ukai and Daichi. "So, Mikaela," the coach said, raising an eyebrow with her. "What _relevant_ information can you give us about Johzenji?"

"Define relevant. In my opinion, it's _all_ relevant."

Daichi rolled his eyes. "Anything that could link to their playing style and such."

Mikaela beamed and flipped out her notebook. "From what I've heard and seen, they're a team that relies on surprises to win their matches. They're highly spontaneous and can make a play out of just about anything- I watched a play online of someone spiking it from a set off someone's foot."

Ukai let out a low whistle. "Impressive."

"They practice with a lot of two on two matches," Mikaela continued, flipping to a new page. "So everyone's always diving for everything, so communication's not their strong suit. Their serves aren't bad, but the only one with a dangerous serve would be their captain."

Daichi noticed the way her tone filled with disgust and he laughed. "Their captain wouldn't happen to be the guy we met outside the gym this morning, yeah?"

"Unfortunately," she answered, closing her notebook. "I could give you plenty of lovely facts about him, but I don't know if it would be considered 'relevant', as you put it."

"Thanks, Mikaela," Daichi said. "You should probably get going."

"Yep," Mikaela agreed. She turned towards the team, who were all serving to warm up. "Good luck, guys!"

Choruses of thanks and assurances flew at her, and Mikaela waved one last time before she left the gym floor, going to the stairs that would take her up to the stands. She didn't recognize anyone- wait, were those the old guys who were at their prelims? She shook her head. Nope, she wouldn't be joining them, not unless she was absolutely positive that they were Karasuno alumni. She'd rather watch on her own.

Asahi started with a powerful serve, but Johzenji managed to keep the ball in the air. Mikaela wanted to kick Kageyama when she heard him call "free ball!" because if Johzenji still played the way they used to, it obviously wouldn't be free. Sure enough, Terushima leaped and twisted midair, spiking the ball to an empty spot on the court, scoring the first game of the game.

Mikaela shot daggers at Daichi and he glanced up at her, nodding sheepishly. "This is exactly what I warned you lot about," she grumbled, crossing her arms and leaning on the railing, bringing her glare over to Kageyama. He seemed to sense that she was looking at him because he looked up towards her and frowned at her before turning back to the game.

"They'd better get this point," she grumbled to herself, watching Karasuno receive the serve and set it up for Tanaka. Johzenji saved it, but the bump wasn't pretty and went straight into the net. The setter lunged out and set it off his foot, right to where one of his teammates was set to jump and spike.

To Mikaela's relief, Kageyama wouldn't be caught cold twice. He leaped up with the hitter, who seemed just as surprised to see him as his teammates were, and Kageyama blocked his spike, earning Karasuno's first point.

The game was running smoothly, with Karasuno riding on the momentum after a ridiculous save by Hinata and Nishinoya, and Mikaela was so engrossed in the game that she didn't notice that someone was asking for her.

"-excuse me? Miss?"

Karasuno scored another point, making it twelve to ten for Karasuno, and Mikaela jerked her head up. "What?"

"Sorry," the bothersome person apologized, and Mikaela was almost embarrassed for speaking so sharply when she saw that he was a middle-aged man with light hair, wearing a faded hoodie. "Are you their second manager? I remember you from the prelims."

"...Yes," Mikaela replied slowly, narrowing her eyes at him. "What's it to you?"

He laughed awkwardly, shifting backwards slightly. "No need to be hostile. We're just team alumni."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm Takinoue Yūsuke," the blond guy said, waving in a vain attempt to be friendly. "This is Shimada Makoto." A man with black hair and glasses poked his head out from beside his friend and waved. "Yeah, we're both team alumni, we've been trying to get out to every game we can."

Mikaela tried to force herself to relax. "I- Oh. That's, uh, cool."

"Pardon me for asking," Shimada said, his voice surprisingly lighter than Mikaela had expected, "but are you related to Kageyama-kun? You both look very similar."

She nodded. "Yep, he's my cousin. We're really close."

"Ah." The trio turned back to the game, where the score was now fourteen to twelve for Karasuno. "Have you played volleyball before?" Shimada asked. "I know the game can be a bit confusing for people who haven't played."

Mikaela was about to retort with something sharp, but she bit her lip to calm herself down. _There's no way he would know. He's just being kind._ "Yes, I have," she said evenly, training her eyes on the game as Asahi got a service ace. "I played in middle school."

"What position?" Takinoue asked.

"Libero for a few years, then wing spiker for half of the last year."

Shimada nodded, his eyebrows rising. "What was with the change?"

Mikaela shrugged, leaning onto the railing. "Wanted to spike," she said wistfully as she watched Hinata nail a quick attack over one of the Johzenji blocker's head. "I was sick of being on defense all the time."

"Makes sense," Takinoue agreed. "So you just didn't want to play this year?"

She turned her head and cocked an eyebrow, glaring at the pair of adults. "What is this, an interrogation?"

Mikaela nearly laughed when she saw both adults shrink away at her glare, apparently intimidated. _That's kinda sad- two full grown males freaked out by a high school girl._ "Not at all, sorry," Shimada apologized for the both of them. "Just curious."

"It's fine," she mumbled, turning back to the game. Just in time- Kageyama jumped up to block a setter dump and took a volleyball to the face. Mikaela had to stifle her grin until she realized _oh shit, his nose is bleeding_ and she took off from the stands, taking the stairs down two at a time and moving towards the doors to the game. Shimizu and Yamaguchi were escorting Kageyama off the court ('escorting' was a strong word- Yamaguchi was physically pushing Kageyama out of the gym), and he was holding a tissue to his nose.

He saw her and sighed. "Don't you dare laugh."

She pinched her lips together to fight down her grin. "Good reaction time, crappy block," she said honestly. Mikaela turned to Shimizu. "I can take him if you want to get back to the game. I'll have him back in no time."

Shimizu nodded to her. "There's a nurse just down the hall. It's probably nothing serious, but just make sure that he's all good to play again once the bleeding stops."

"Of course." The older manager nodded to her and turned back to the gym. This was her last tournament, and Mikaela wanted to make sure that she wouldn't miss a second of it, especially for something as minor as a nosebleed.

Yamaguchi chuckled weakly. "Tsukki would make some crappy joke about how the King bleeds so easily."

Mikaela grinned, "yeah, what a wimp, eh?"

"You're supposed to be on my side," Kageyama grumbled, pulling the tissue away to see if the bleeding had stopped. He brought it back to his nose. "I'm fine to play," he protested.

"Nope," Mikaela and Yamaguchi said in unison.

The nurse was polite and worked quickly, doing basic check ups to ensure that Kageyama wasn't concussed ("I'm fine," he protested continuously, and Mikaela smacked him), and once the bleeding stopped a minute later, it didn't take long for her to give Kageyama the assurance that he was fine to play. Kageyama practically sprinted back to the gym, Yamaguchi hot on his heels, and Mikaela went back to her spot on the bleachers.

"How's Kageyama?" Takinoue asked, tilting his head towards her.

"He's fine," Mikaela said with a shrug. "His skull's so thick he didn't even feel anything." The two adults choked on their laughter, and Mikaela looked back to the game. To her surprise, Coach Ukai had subbed Hinata out in favour of Narita. She glanced at the score, twenty-two to twenty-one. "When'd the game get so close?" she asked, turning back to the alumni. "We were up by three when I left."

Shimada adjusted his glasses. "Johzenji got three in a row, but Sugawara's starting to click with Narita now." As if on cue, Karasuno scored a quick attack through Narita. "See? Two points from taking the set."

Mikaela hummed in acknowledgement and turned back to the game, watching Karasuno serve, receive Johzenji's attempt at an attack, and counter with a synchronized attack, in which Sugawara sent the ball to Daichi to put them at set point. "Yes!" Mikaela whispered, pumping her fist. _So close!_

To her surprise, Johzenji tried to pull off Karasuno's own synchronized attack for their next play- and it failed miserably. Mikaela's shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter; she'd seen that attack bungled in a very similar fashion by her own team. Regardless, it meant that Karasuno would be taking set one and they'd be diving into set two. To her excitement, Ukai was starting with Kageyama and Hinata once again.

Set two went significantly faster than the first. Although Kageyama and Hinata had a bit too much pent up energy and made a few mistakes at the beginning, Daichi kept them together and Karasuno slowly started to pull away, widening the gap to five points. Johzenji was panicking, and it was beginning to show in their plays. Eventually, their coach took a time out, and even though Johzenji really stepped up their game after the break, Karasuno still took the second set by five points, winning them the game.

Mikaela was ecstatic- they were going to the next round, the quarterfinals. She bid her goodbyes to the team alumni, whose names she knew she'd accidentally forget soon enough, and raced downstairs. She was greeted with enthusiastic high-fives from Tanaka and Nishinoya before she even had a chance to congratulate them.

"Kaisha! We won!" Hinata cheered, leaping at her for a hug.

She laughed and hugged him back. "I knew you would." She let go of Hinata and turned to Tsukishima, thinking back to some of his blocks in the game. "Good blocking," she said honestly, forcing a smile.

The tips of Tsukishima's ears went red as he scoffed. "Yeah, the King could learn a thing or two from me."

"Shut up, Prick," Kageyama snapped, flushing.

Tsukishima cocked an eyebrow and raised his arms above his head. "Remember, you block with your arms, not your face-"

"Can it!" the setter roared, preparing to launch himself at the tall blond. Yamaguchi restrained him at the last minute.

Mikaela giggled. "Maybe Kageyama could teach you a thing or two about serving, Tsukishima?"

Tsukishima glared at her. "My serves are fine. They're more consistent than Hinata's."

"No way!" Hinata protested.

"Yamaguchi has you all beat in serving," Mikaela said proudly, clapping the pinch server on the back. "He's definitely going to come out in the game tomorrow and show everyone up."

Yamaguchi flushed cherry red. "No- No, my serves aren't that good- yet."

"Yet!" Mikaela agreed enthusiastically. "That's the spirit!"

"He's been working on his serves more than anyone else," Tsukishima agreed quietly.

His voice was so soft that she nearly missed it, but when she caught his words, she turned to him and grinned. "Is that positive encouragement? Coming from Tsukishima?" she teased, her grin widening.

He glared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hinata gasped. "It was! Positive encouragement!"

"So the Prick's got something positive in there after all," Kageyama muttered.

"No!" Tsukishima spluttered.

"Look at him trying to protect his reputation," Mikaela said to Yamaguchi, enjoying the various shades of red that Tsukishima's face was taking on. "Isn't that adorable?"

"Shut up, Pirate," he snapped.

The group of first-years paused, confused. Mikaela exchanged blank looks with Kageyama and Yamaguchi, then turned to Hinata, who was scratching his head in confusion.

Tsukishima sighed in disappointment. "Pirate? The fake leg? The grumpiness? The temper? The violence?"

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "Oh, you did not."

"I did."

"Tsukishima, you little-"

"Daichi! Help us get Tsukishima on the bus before Mikaela kills him!"

Mikaela couldn't ask for a better group of friends.

* * *

 **Yo friends I'm turning 18 tomorrow! This is wild, I'm going to be an adult! Also I got a laptop for my birthday which was a great gift, but now I have to add the names of the characters to the online dictionary because it keeps trying to autocorrect them- it's trying to autocorrect 'Mikaela' to 'Kamikaze' and that's so funny to me, not sure why**

 **Due to the increasing lateness on this chapter and the rush I'm in right now to put it out, I won't be responding to reviews this week. Sorry :(**

 **Much love!**


	30. The Head Injury

**Thank you to thatgirl221b, KiarakaK, Gabrielle Nightingale, Kimimiki99, Karyuuu Hoshi Sora, TinyBookLover, Vixxkay, NightsBlackRose13, Kyoya kumo, kaylagalloway084, Huohua Duvessa, Sayori1412, S. yons, Sapphiresushi, PenguinOtaku, and Shadow Wolf 15846 for your wonderful support!**

* * *

"Alright Mikaela, what've you got on Wakunan?"

Mikaela grinned wickedly at the opportunity to talk about their next opponent. "I think the better question is, what _don't_ I have on Wakunan?"

Ukai rolled his eyes. "Okay, what don't you have?"

"Nothing," she said proudly, holding out her notebook. "Next to nothing."

The boys were warming up on the court, and the tension was high. The coach had point-blank stated that Wakunan was a bad match-up for them, so the tension was understandable. Based off of her information, Mikaela agreed with him.

"Wakunan overall is very similar to Nekoma," she started, shrugging, "they're great at defense and solid on offense. Their biggest stand-out player on offense is Nakashima Takeru- he's the one with the family fan club- and he's great at tooling blocks. Fans have started calling him the next Little Giant."

Ukai grunted. "Hinata will have fun going up against him."

Mikaela frowned. "I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not. Anyways, they're pretty average on offense with the exception of this dude. Are you sure you don't want any more information? Birthday, that family of his, their birthdays and personal issues, his friends, his-"

"No!" Daichi and Ukai interrupted in unison.

She pouted. "Not even his favourite food?"

Takeda looked up from his statistics sheets. "You know his favourite food?"

"Zunda mochi," Mikaela replied with a proud grin.

Ukai shook his head. "My god."

Daichi sighed and shook his head. "Thanks, Mikaela. We're about to start. You gonna head up to the stands?"

"Yes, captain," she replied, waving to the rest of the team before heading back to the stands. The Wakunan game was bound to be a tough one, especially if the team was as tenacious as the multiple online videos had shown. They were a tough team for anyone, but for wild and crazy Karasuno? This was going to be a nightmare.

"Hey, Miss Manager."

Mikaela raised an eyebrow. "I have a name, you know."

"Sorry," Shimada apologized, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Takinoue asked you yesterday, and I didn't quite hear it, and unfortunately he isn't around today to remind me. He has to work."

"Mikaela," she said shortly, turning to the rail. She crossed her arms and leaned forward as Daichi shook hands with Nakashima.

He muttered another apology and they both were about to turn back to the game when someone else piped up. "Oh, this is so exciting!" a female voice said loudly, and Mikaela turned to see a vaguely familiar girl in a leather jacket with short blonde hair walking towards them. "Even just watching this kinda gets the blood pumping, you know?"

Mikaela frowned. "Hi?"

The woman turned towards the court and grinned. "Ryu! Hey, Ryu-chan!"

Tanaka turned towards her and then flinched away. "Geh!"

Nishinoya, on the other hand, looked thrilled. "Bis sis Saeko! Hey!"

"Ah," Mikaela said knowingly, nodding. "You're Tanaka's older sister."

"Yep!" Saeko said with a cheerful grin. "He's the best, ain't he?"

Mikaela sighed to herself, slumping onto the railing as she waited for the match to begin. Wakunan had the first serve, which Daichi effortlessly received. Kageyama used the opportunity to jump straight into the freak quick, and Hinata easily secured the team's first point. Mikaela was really enjoying the surprised noises coming from Nakashima's cheer squad, and apparently so was Shimada, because he was cackling to himself.

Everything started going downhill from there. Kageyama's killer serve was easily received. Wakunan's combination plays were driving the blockers into fits (specifically Hinata and Tanaka). Nakashima was tooling any block that stood in his way. Karasuno was barely keeping up. It was hard enough to stay one point behind Wakunan.

Eventually, Kageyama started leaning on Asahi, who started to rack up the points. Soon enough, Karasuno pulled ahead, and it was nineteen to seventeen.

"They're finally getting up there," Mikaela murmured to herself.

Saeko overheard her and grinned. "Yep! Karasuno's got this in the bag!"

Shimada nodded. "Things are looking up!"

Mikaela was pretty sure that she was a jinx, because the worst point of the game- the worst point she'd ever seen- happened right after voicing her confidence in her team.

Daichi made a fantastic save off another one of Nakashima's block-outs, and Nishinoya dove in to follow up. One more hit to get the ball over the net, and both Tanaka and Daichi dove for it.

Mikaela didn't even see whether they scored the point or not. All she saw was Daichi laying on the floor, not moving, before she pushed herself off the railing and took off down the stairs, heading towards the gym entrance.

"Please be okay, please be okay," she chanted to herself as she took the stairs two at a time, nearly running into someone else trying to get up the stairs. "Sorry!" she called over her shoulder. Mikaela rounded the corner, leaping over someone's bag and nearly tackling a child that was running by.

She skidded to a stop outside the gym just as Shimizu was exiting the gym with Daichi next to her. The captain was glaring at the floor, holding a cloth to his mouth- he was bleeding. He noticed her and his face lost some of its tension. "Oh, hey, Mikaela."

"Is he okay?" Mikaela asked, turning to Shimizu.

"You could just ask me," Daichi muttered, raising his eyebrows.

She shook her head. "Injured players always lie." She turned back to Shimizu. "Can he play?"

The manager shook her head. "He's lost a tooth, and there's a possibility of a concussion. He's out for this game at least, and he'll be out for the next one unless he's cleared by the nurse."

"I can take him, if you want," Mikaela offered. "You can stay with the team."

Shimizu pursed her lips, understanding the weight of Mikaela's offer. Every game could be the third years' last, and Mikaela wanted to make sure that her senpai wouldn't miss any of it. Shimizu had agreed almost immediately to Mikaela taking care of Kageyama, but now she was hesitating, and Mikaela could understand why- this was her captain, a fellow third year.

"Shimizu-san, let me take care of this," she said quietly.

"You should stay with the team, Kiyoko," Daichi added, meeting Mikaela's eyes briefly. "I'm in good hands."

Shimizu sighed softly. "Alright. Mikaela?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. And please call me Kiyoko."

Mikaela's mouth slipped open in surprise. "You- I can call you Kiyoko?"

She smiled faintly. "Of course."

"Then call me Kaisha," Mikaela said without hesitation, smiling. "Please."

Her senpai smiled at her before turning around and heading back into the gym. Mikaela turned around and started heading towards the nurse's office, Daichi following her quietly. When they reached their destination and Mikaela explained their situation, the nurse immediately started fussing over Daichi and forced him to lay down while she went to hunt for medication to numb the pain in his mouth.

Mikaela sat herself down on a chair across from Daichi's bed and sighed, sinking into the chair. "How're you feeling?"

He tilted his head towards her. "Fine."

"Bullshit."

Daichi sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'd call you out on your language, but I think that's Suga's job." When she didn't reply, he groaned, turning to face the wall. "Honestly?" he said quietly. "I'm frustrated. Really frustrated. I just want to get back out on the court."

Mikaela clapped her hands. "Finally, some true feelings from the captain."

"Ha, ha." There was a brief pause before Daichi spoke up again. "It's not Tanaka's fault."

"I know."

"It's my fault."

"No it's not."

The captain turned his head back so he was facing her. Mikaela had never seen him look so... _exhausted._ "Yes, it is," he insisted quietly. "I got in the way. I _saw_ him going for the ball, and my body still moved anyways. What if Tanaka had been injured too? What if-"

"Captain, with all due respect," Mikaela interrupted, "stop talking."

Daichi huffed, turning the other way.

Mikaela was about to say something when the door opened and their coach walked in, looking more pissed off than Mikaela had seen him in a while. "Sawamura. How're you feeling?"

He turned towards the coach and forced a grin. "Fine, coach."

Ukai narrowed his eyes, then turned to Mikaela.

"He feels like crap," Mikaela said honestly, tucking her knees up into her chest and wrapping her arms around her shins. "He's frustrated because he wants to be back on the court, and he's feeling guilty because, for whatever stupid reason, he thinks the whole thing is his fault."

Daichi groaned. _"Mikaela."_

"Am I wrong?"

He muttered something incomprehensible and turned away. Ukai sighed. "We took the first set," he said, and both Mikaela and Daichi straightened up. "Ennoshita's playing Sawamura's spot right now."

"That's awesome," Daichi said quickly, grinning. "That's-"

"Here's the medication," the nurse interrupted, bustling back into the room. "I don't think you've got a concussion, but you should definitely be resting."

He sat up slowly and took the pill bottle from her. "Will I be okay to play in the second game today?"

The nurse pursed her lips. "We'll see. You need plenty of rest and lots of water, but if you're feeling fine after a rest, then I don't see why not."

Both Mikaela and the coach let out sighs of relief. "Thank you," Ukai said with a small smile, and the nurse bowed before leaving the room. "Hear that? You need to sleep. Mikaela, can you stay with him?"

"Of course."

"Thank you." Ukai nodded to her, then to Daichi. "Make sure you sleep."

"I will, coach. Thank you." When the door closed behind Ukai on his way out, Daichi turned towards Mikaela with a grin on his face. "I can see why you get under Tsukishima's skin now," he joked.

Mikaela's eyes widened. "I- I what? What're you talking about? I don't!"

He laughed. "Tsukishima's always had a bit of a problem with people who are... well, for lack of a better word, _blunt."_

"I am not blunt!" Daichi gave her a look that screamed 'don't try that with me' and Mikaela sighed. "Okay, well, I'm not exactly _blunt,_ more like... more like... oh, fine, blunt it is." He rolled his eyes at her. "How would you know I get under Tsukishima's skin?"

"He complains about you," he said with a shrug. "Besides, it's obvious to anyone that even glances at you two that you bother him."

"He bothers _me,_ " Mikaela protested, crossing her arms.

Daichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and you return the favour."

"Do you know what he called me yesterday? He called me Pirate because of the metal leg and my temper. Like, seriously?" Mikaela threw her hands in the air. "I'd say he's worse to me than I am to him."

"I'm sure he'd say the same about himself," the captain contradicted. He paused. "Wait, Tsukishima called you a pirate?"

"Yes!"

He snorted. "That's a good one, actually."

"Captain!"

Daichi couldn't stop grinning, so Mikaela huffed and turned her head so she could glare at the door. She wasn't actually mad- she was just happy that he was feeling better. Besides, he had just shared some important information: Tsukishima talked about her? Well, complained, but wasn't that the same thing?

She was so lost in thought that she almost missed the captain calling her name. "Hm?"

"Mikaela?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for convincing Kiyoko to stay."

She hummed in response.

Mikaela half-smiled to herself as Daichi's breathing slowed and he fell asleep, finally succumbing to his exhaustion. _He's such a selfless person,_ she thought, her smile slowly fading. _Wish I could be more like that._

Karasuno would win. She knew they would.

Judging by how peacefully Daichi was sleeping, he knew they would too.

* * *

 **GUYS my best friend got me an Aoba Johsai Volleyball Club jacket for me as a birthday present! It's so nice and I cried!**

 **Huohua Duvessa:** Thank you kindly for the birthday wishes :D I'm glad you like the interactions! I like the idea of Mikaela being such a reckless force of nature that she needs both Yamaguchi and Tsukishima to hold her back XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Sapphiresushi:** Tsukki's adorable ;) Thank you so much for your lovely review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** I'm glad you think Ushijima was in character xD He's surprisingly difficult to write! I'm trying to keep him as deadpan as possible xD The Iwaizumi-Oikawa-Mikaela interactions are among some of my favourite, they're so much fun to write! Thank you so much, as always, for your awesome review! :D

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** I'm glad you liked the chapter :) Thank you so much for the birthday wishes! And thank you for your review! :D

 **PenguinOtaku:** Thank you so much! :)

 **S. yons:** Your reviews always make me laugh- "lol girl BYE" made me cackle XD I'm so glad you like the little filler bits! Thank you so much for your review :D

 **Kimimiki:** Thank you! That's really cool, it's always cool to hear real-life stories similar to what I'm writing. I hope one day you're able to be a spiker, or pull a Kageyama and do the occasional spike ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Next chapter will be the Aoba Johsai match, and lemme tell you, I'm going to tear my hair out. I love the Aoba Johsai team SO MUCH and this match always hurts my soul.**

 **Much love!~**


	31. The Internal Struggle

**Thank you kindly to Sapphiresushi, Huohua Duvessa, Sayori1412, hannymae, Swaggishima, jily shiper, Peiskos, Celestialstarshine, Azzzuka777, Ronnie-Sugar54618, black-cherry-blossoms98, darkpercy5, giuly666, FanFictionAnimeLover, Bonihikaru, and ash20312!**

* * *

"I can't do this."

Kageyama tilted his head towards her, frowning. "Can't do what?"

Mikaela waved her hands above her head. "This."

He shrugged. "I don't follow."

"Never mind," Mikaela mumbled, slumping back into her seat.

Kageyama shrugged and turned back to the game in front of them, Aoba Johsai versus Date Tech. Karasuno had successfully taken down Wakunan, even though they dropped the second set. Mikaela and Daichi had managed to return for the last few points, but when Mikaela had asked Daichi if he wanted to get ready to go back on, he'd just smiled and said the team was doing fine.

Karasuno was onto the semi finals. Their next match would be against the winner of this game, and Mikaela had no doubt in her mind that Oikawa and Iwaizumi would come out on top.

The problem was, she wanted both of them to go to nationals.

Her eyes trailed to the court as the gigantic setter on Date Tech's team set the ball much too high for his hitter. Yes, she knew that she was a part of the Karasuno team, and yes, she was completely confident in their abilities, and yes, she wanted them to win, but...

"I'm going to go sit with Hinata," Kageyama said, and she nodded to him as he got up, moving towards the front row to sit with the short middle blocker. Mikaela didn't blame him- she'd been nothing but moody for the past couple minutes.

Mikaela groaned loudly and slumped further into her seat as Blue Castle scored another point.

 _I hate feelings._

"I haven't seen you look this miserable since you were forced to tell Kuroo about your leg."

She glanced up to see Tsukishima standing in front of her, wearing his Karasuno uniform with his jacket pulled on over top. He had switched from his sports goggles to his regular glasses again. "Oh. Tsukishima. Hey," she said, trying to put some energy into her voice.

He sat down in Kageyama's vacant seat, leaning back into the chair and studying the game in front of them. "What's wrong with you?" he asked, crossing his arms.

Mikaela snorted. "Careful, it almost sounds like you care."

"I don't," Tsukishima replied, his eyes following the volleyball as it moved across the court. "I just know I'm going to be the one receiving all your complaints so I may as well get them now before they get worse."

She glared at him. "Says you. Daichi said you've been complaining about me."

Whatever Tsukishima had been about to say got caught in his throat. He coughed awkwardly and glared at the court in front of them. "Captain said that?" he said with a scoff, the tips of his ears burning red. "Don't believe everything you hear."

"So he lied?"

Tsukishima clicked his tongue. "I didn't say that. Stop twisting my words."

"I wasn't!"

"You were."

Mikaela sighed, a smile ghosting her lips. "Whatever you say, moron."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, and the pair fell into silence. Cheers erupted from the court as Aoba Johsai hit the twenty point mark. "So?" Tsukishima prompted.

She shrugged. "Well, for one thing, I fell really guilty for living at your place almost two nights a week."

"We've been over this. It's fine."

"I know, but still."

"You're dodging."

"What? No I'm not."

"Yes you are, idiot. What's the issue that's making you miserable _right now?_ As in, not the other dozen problems in your life?"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "For someone who doesn't like blunt people, you're pretty blunt yourself." Tsukishima didn't bite. Instead, he glared at her, cocking his eyebrows, and Mikaela finally caved. "I want both of you to win," she mumbled.

Tsukishima paused. "Come again?"

"It's dumb," she said, shaking her head. "Never mind."

They sat in silence for a moment, watching the volleyball game go by. Date Tech called a time out, and the players came off the court. Mikaela glanced at Aoba Johsai, who were discussing their next plays with each other. Her eyes lingered on Oikawa, who was making elaborate hand gestures, and when he accidentally caught her eye, he waved cheekily. Mikaela glared at him and he went back to the time out discussions.

Tsukishima glanced at Oikawa, then back at Mikaela. "Yeah, you're pretty dumb," he said softly, "but don't think that your feelings are stupid."

She glanced up in surprise. The blond's cheeks were dusted pink. He jerked his chin towards the volleyball game. "It's them, isn't it?"

"No," Mikaela denied immediately, her eyes following Iwaizumi as he moved into position on the court. "Maybe. Yes?" When she noticed Tsukishima glaring at her, she finally cracked, and the words spilled out of her before she even realized what she was saying. "Yes, I'm part of Karasuno, and yes, I want you guys to win, but at the same time, those are my senpai, and they've worked so hard for this. This is their last year to go to nationals, and they're definitely good enough to go to nationals, but Karasuno's going to win, but they have to win too, and it's _not fair-"_

She sighed, trying to calm herself down. Tsukishima stayed quiet. "I want both of you to win, and I know I'm supposed to stay dedicated to my team, and it's definitely not fair for you guys if I even think about cheering for them, but..." Her voice lowered to a whisper. "It's not fair," she mumbled. "They both mean so much to me. They can't lose. But neither can you."

Mikaela bit her lip. "Sorry for ranting," she added lamely.

"By 'they', I assume you mean Oikawa and Iwaizumi?" he clarified, and she nodded. "Ah. So is it a personal devotion to them, or to the team?"

"I'm decent friends with Hanamaki and Matsukawa too," Mikaela said thoughtfully. "Kindaichi and Kunimi weren't exactly nice to Kageyama, so I don't exactly care about them. But..." She laughed dryly. "I think caring about more than two of them counts as rooting for the whole team."

"I see."

She was biting her lip hard enough to take the skin off of it. "Sorry."

"You're an idiot, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, no need to rub it in," Mikaela grumbled, tucking her knees up to her chest.

Tsukishima turned his head, fully looking at her for the first time since the conversation started. "Who do you want to win?" he asked, adjusting his glasses. "When it comes down to it, who do you want to be the one up in the finals against Shiratorizawa?"

Mikaela couldn't meet his eyes. She kept her eyes trained on the court, where Oikawa pulled off a vicious setter dump that put them at game point.

"Karasuno," she said.

Tsukishima didn't say anything as Hanamaki served. Date Tech received it and scored the point. "Are you lying?" he asked quietly, no longer looking at her but instead studying the game.

She chewed her lip hard enough that she was starting to taste blood. "No, I don't think so."

"Good. Then I don't see what the problem is."

Mikaela smiled wryly to herself, not surprised in the slightest by Tsukishima's typical response, and brought her hand up to her mouth, tapping her lip gingerly. "Hey, Tsukishima?"

"What?"

"I'm bleeding."

Tsukishima twisted towards her, and they both missed Date Tech scoring their next point, making the score 24 - 22. "What do you mean, you're..." He sighed when he saw the blood on her lip. Mikaela studied her fingertips, dotted red from touching her lip. "Idiot," Tsukishima grumbled. "Don't stress yourself out. There's nothing you can do about this."

"Okay," she replied quietly. "I'll try."

Iwaizumi punched a spike straight through one of the Date Tech blockers' arms, securing the set for Aoba Johsai and putting them in the semi finals against Karasuno. This was it.

She and Tsukishima followed the rest of the team down to the court floor, and everyone started removing jackets and setting bags off to the side. Everyone was looking significantly more tense than usual, and Mikaela didn't blame them- from what Kageyama said, the only match they'd ever lost in a tournament was to Aoba Johsai.

"Kaela?"

Mikaela turned around. "What's up, Yams?"

"D- Do you have any antacids?" he stammered, his arms wrapped around his stomach. "Sorry, I just got really nervous all of sudden."

"Yeah, of course," she assured him, grabbing the medical kit from the back of the room and digging through it. The manager held the pill bottle out to him, and he accepted it from her quickly. "You seemed okay last game. You want to talk about it?"

He shrugged. "Well, last time we played Aoba Johsai, during the Inter High, I got subbed in as a pinch server when we were down points," Yamaguchi mumbled. "It was my first time in a game. I messed up on the serve. If I had made it, maybe we could've won. But I screwed up, and we lost."

Mikaela's eyes went as wide as dinner plates. "What the heck?! Ukai did that to you?"

Yamaguchi shrugged helplessly. "I guess."

"That's rough," she admitted, patting him on the shoulder. "Well, it can't get any worse than that, can it?"

The pinch server paused, considering her statement. "No, I guess it can't." He turned towards her and grabbed her in a hug. "Thanks, Kaela! That helped, I think."

She laughed, hugging him back. "Anytime."

Blue Castle was starting to get settled on the other side of the court. Mikaela's eyes lingered on the back of Oikawa's jacket before she tore her gaze away and made her way over to Kageyama, who was filing his nails at the side of the court. He glanced up at her. "Hey, Kai."

"Hey, Tobio." She squatted down next to him and forced a smile. "You ready?"

He sighed, lowering his hands. "No. Oikawa-san's so good. He gets the most out of every single one of his hitters. I don't know how I'm supposed to beat that."

"You're not," Mikaela assured him, grabbing his hands. "Not alone."

"Obviously not!" Hinata piped up, jumping into the conversation.

Mikaela smiled at him, grateful for the support. "So maybe you're not as good as him yet. That doesn't matter. It's Karasuno against Aoba Johsai, not Kageyama against Oikawa."

Kageyama sighed. "Where were you the first time we played them? It would've been nice to hear that."

She pulled him in for a hug as the whistle blew to signal the start of warm ups. "You'll be fine. I'm rooting for you the whole way."

He smirked at her, which she supposed was the closest thing she'd get to a smile, and the team gathered on the court to start warming up. Daichi had already told her that they didn't really need any information from her, and Mikaela had agreed: they were going to get through it on their own.

Warm ups were going smoothly and Mikaela was helping with retrieving any stray volleyballs when she noticed one rolling to the center of the court. She was about to go for it when she noticed Kageyama and Oikawa reaching for it at the same time. "Oh, dear lord," she grumbled as they both started tugging on the volleyball.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Tobio-chan, who I totally thrashed the last time we played!" Oikawa gloated, straining to keep hold of the volleyball.

Kageyama grunted as he tugged back. "This time, we're going to win!"

"Ha! I completely clobbered you last time! It was a total beat down! You weren't even close!" the Aoba Johsai team captain retorted, smirking. "Now all that's left on my to-do list is to take down Ushiwaka!" He let go of the volleyball, sending Kageyama crashing to the floor. "Sorry, dear Tobio, I'm just going to have to eliminate you again!"

"Oikawa!" Mikaela called as the setter started cackling. She stormed towards them, taking the volleyball from her cousin. "What are you, twelve?"

"On a scale of one to ten," Oikawa replied easily, grinning at her. "Mika-chan! How are you?" He held his arms out for a hug.

"No, don't you dare," she threatened, backing up. Oikawa grinned devilishly at her and shifted closer. "Iwaizumi!"

The ace popped up behind Oikawa, grabbing his collar. "Hey, Mikaela. Is this moron bothering you?"

"Excuse me, are you harassing our manager?" Daichi had approached the conversation from behind Mikaela, and he had a look of deadly calm on his face. Mikaela nearly shivered.

Oikawa scoffed. "More like your manager is harassing me!"

"Yes, Oikawa's harassing your manager," Iwaizumi deadpanned, causing Oikawa to squawk in protest. "Sorry."

"I was not!"

"You probably were," someone else said, and Mikaela turned her head to see Hanamaki strolling towards them. He grinned. "Hey, niece."

She grinned, remembering their inside joke. "Hey, uncle."

"What the hell?" Tanaka asked in disbelief. "Uncle?"

Mikaela was about to try and explain when Oikawa stepped in and made it worse. "Yep! Iwa-chan and I are her adoptive dads. Makki and Mattsun are her uncles."

Iwaizumi groaned, tugging at Oikawa's ear. "Enough with that. Sorry, Karasuno. I'll get him back on a leash."

The teams separated, and Mikaela sighed, already dreading the outcome of the match. The whistle blew to call the teams back to their benches, so Mikaela waved goodbye to everyone and made her way up to the bleachers, finding Tanaka's older sister, Shimada, and Takinoue, who had apparently just showed up. Both teams bowed to each other and took their spots on the court.

"Oikawa's serving?" Mikaela mused, leaning forward against the railing as Oikawa drummed the ball against the court. "Rough."

"Yeah, his serve is nasty," Shimada agreed.

She shrugged. "I haven't seen it in a while, but I know he practices more than anyone else."

Sure enough, Oikawa's serve rocketed to the back corner of the court, but Daichi managed to save it. Oikawa's serve was so strong that the ball went back to the other side, and Kindaichi went to smash it, but Kageyama managed to get a hand on it and launch it up. Nishinoya jumped in to set, and Asahi pulled off a back row attack, getting the first point of the game.

"They look more surprised than anyone else," Mikaela joked as Asahi and Nishinoya screamed at each other in disbelief.

Kageyama's serve was out (barely) and Iwaizumi's serve was nearly as bad as Oikawa's. Asahi received it but it flew long, and miraculous Kageyama was there to pull off a one-handed set for Tanaka. The points gradually started accumulating, and when Tsukishima managed to roof Hanamaki, Mikaela had to hide her smirk behind her hand.

Shimada and Takinoue were briefing Saeko on the details of the last game, but Mikaela was too interested in when the freak quick was going to pop up to pay proper attention to their conversation. Hinata flubbed in the first time he tried (Mikaela guess that he was a bit wound up), and Kageyama kicked him in an effort to calm him down. The second time, they managed to pull it off, making the score 7 - 5 for Karasuno.

The points kept adding up. Karasuno was managing to stay a step ahead, but Blue Castle didn't even look bothered. Eventually, Matsukawa started commit-blocking Hinata, which worked at first until Hinata tipped it gently over his block. It was 24 - 23 for Karasuno until Blue Castle decided to sub in a new player.

"Who's that?" Shimada asked.

Mikaela's face twisted in a scowl. "When I dug around, I found out that he was back on the team. He joined early but left due to attitude problems, and came back just a few weeks ago. He's a dangerous player."

"How so?" Takinoue inquired as Iwaizumi went up to serve.

"He's reckless," she said shortly as Tanaka's spike was received. "He has no regard for the other players on the court. He-"

As if acting on cue to her word, the new player jumped in front of Kindaichi to spike a ball that was clearly not meant for him. The spike was out, and Karasuno took the first set, 25 - 23.

The second set started off with Asahi narrowly missing his serve, and Oikawa following suit with a rocket that nearly landed in. That was two serves in a row that he missed, but his aim was getting better. Mikaela resisted the urge to hide her face in her hands- Karasuno was one set up, so they could take this set and win, but Oikawa and Iwaizumi...

She shook herself. "Karasuno," she muttered under her breath.

The game continued with the score favouring Aoba Johsai. Their substitute player, the one that had been subbed on at the very end of the first set, was changing the game. The score was 16 - 13 for Aoba Johsai when Oikawa went back up to serve. This time, he nailed it- a perfect jump serve that landed right on the back line between Daichi and Nishinoya. It couldn't have been better. The gap in points was widening, but Karasuno managed to score off of Oikawa's second serve, and the coach subbed in Sugawara for Tsukishima.

The substitution was perfectly timed. With Sugawara on the court, Karasuno scored three points in a row, including one where Suga and Kageyama swapped places and Kageyama spiked the ball instead.

"Oh!" Saeko cried out in excitement. "It's a tactical temporary six-two one-point setter set!"

Mikaela shot her a weird look. "That's way too long."

The blonde woman frowned at her. "Okay, so what would you call it?"

She shrugged. "Not everything has to have a name."

Sugawara got subbed back out and the game continued. Their new player, or 'Mad Dog' as Oikawa called him, was spiking significantly more than anyone else at the moment. The points gap started to increase again, and when 'Mad Dog' nailed his serve and got a service ace, it became 22 - 18 for Blue Castle. Another vicious serve later, it was 23 - 18.

"Five points," Mikaela muttered to herself. "That's rough."

Thankfully, Karasuno took the next point. Ukai didn't waste another second- he sent in Yamaguchi for Hinata.

"Oh my god," she murmured, squeezing her hands into fists. "Come on, Yamaguchi, come on..."

The pinch server looked like he'd gotten rid of his nerves. He was glaring at the other side of the court, probably picking the spot he wanted to serve to, before the whistle blew. Yamaguchi threw the ball, ran, jumped, and served. The ball floated long, then dropped like a stone to hit the back line. It was in.

 _"Yes!"_ Mikaela screamed, throwing her hands up. "Yes!"

The entire Karasuno team was screaming so hard that she wouldn't have been surprised if they all lost their voices afterwards. Mikaela had never been more proud of anyone in her entire life- this moment was _huge._

"He did it," Shimada said, grinning wildly. "He did it."

Mikaela beamed. Yamaguchi looked up to where she was in the bleachers and she shot him a thumbs up. He shot one right back at her.

It only got better from there. Yamaguchi got another service ace off of Blue Castle's 'Mad Dog', then Karasuno secured another point when Tsukishima got a block out off of his spike. Yamaguchi's fourth serve hit the tape on the net and fell into the court, bringing them up to a tie. His next serve didn't swerve as much, but Karasuno still managed to get the point, making the score 24 - 23 for Karasuno.

"They could get this, here and now," Takinoue said with a grin. "One more point."

Mikaela's heart dropped in her chest. Oikawa and Iwaizumi could only have one more point.

The score kept rising, until Oikawa managed to pull off a service ace for a break point and Iwaizumi took a quick set over the middle to win the set for Blue Castle. They were going to go to full sets.

The third set seemed to zip by. Gradually, Blue Castle's substitute was beginning to become more dangerous for them, and Tsukishima was taking full advantage of the player's pent up stress. Blue Castle was leading, then Karasuno was leading, and Mikaela was biting at her fingernails so much that she was surprised her fingers weren't bleeding yet.

Blue Castle took the lead again, making it 16 - 15, but then Karasuno caught up and passed them when Hinata pulled off a ridiculous right-next-to-the-net spike, making it 17 - 16 for Karasuno. Soon, the score was tied at 20 - 20, and Ukai sent Yamaguchi back in. Iwaizumi made a great save off of the botched serve receive, then followed up by receiving Asahi's spike, and Mikaela couldn't help but feel proud of her senpai.

The score continued to move slowly but surely until Oikawa came up to serve. His wicked serve hit the back corner of the court, making the score 24 - 22 for Aoba Johsai. Match point.

 _This could be it._

It was that moment when Mikaela realized that she had been cheering for Karasuno all along. Yes, she would be upset for Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and yes, she'd feel guilty for not cheering for them, but this was her team. She was committed to Karasuno. This was her team.

"Holy crap, I can't watch," Mikaela muttered, hiding her gaze. A few seconds later, she realized what a hypocrite she was and brought her eyes back to the court.

"This is rough," Saeko said loudly.

Daichi received Oikawa's serve, and Asahi punched it through, stopping Oikawa's serve and getting Karasuno's next point. Ukai sent Sugawara in to shake things up, and Sugawara's serve put Iwaizumi out of position. Hinata managed to join Kageyama as a blocker and blocked the incoming spike, tying up the score.

"I'm too young to have a heart attack," Mikaela hissed to herself, clenching her hands into fists. Takinoue hummed in response.

Sugawara managed to receive the next spike, and Mikaela laughed out loud when Kageyama pulled off a perfect setter dump. Kageyama heard her and grinned at her, and she shot him a thumbs up. Karasuno was one point away from winning the whole thing.

It hit her like a truck.

Karasuno was one point away.

Sugawara served. When Blue Castle attacked with a quick spike up the center, Tanaka managed to receive it. Sugawara went in to set, and set the ball to Asahi, who punched it through. Hanamaki barely got there, but the ball was way out of position. Oikawa took off, running to the other side of the court, and set it to the far side for Iwaizumi, who was already in position.

Mikaela could've cried. They were so synced up with each other, it was ridiculous.

Iwaizumi spiked the ball and the receive wasn't great, but Tanaka still managed to get the second hit, doing everything he could to keep the ball alive. The rally dragged on and on until Sugawara received it, and Kageyama set the ball up for Hinata, who grazed the ball off the blocker's fingers and gave it enough spin so that Oikawa couldn't receive it properly. The ball spun off Oikawa's arm and to the back of the room. They got the point.

Karasuno won.

 _Karasuno won._

The roaring in her ears was the only thing louder than the roaring of the crowd. She didn't know what she was feeling- partly excitement, partly sadness, partly triumph, and partly something else that she couldn't describe. She tried her best to channel the excited part of her brain and force a smile on her face.

Mikaela immediately went down from the bleachers to congratulate the team. She hugged Kageyama, squeezing him tight enough to crack a rib, and Yamaguchi was so excited that he looked like he was on the moon. Hinata was bouncing like a rabbit. Tsukishima looked indifferent, but the smirk on his face told Mikaela that he was excited. They deserved it, they really did. They deserved to win.

 _But so did they._

They were gathering up their stuff to leave and get on the bus when Mikaela noticed Oikawa at the far end of the hall. She tapped Daichi on the shoulder. "Are you okay if I say goodbye?" she asked quietly.

Daichi looked over her shoulder and smiled in understanding. "Of course. Don't take too long."

She smiled gratefully at him and turned around, breaking into a light jog. Oikawa didn't notice her coming until too late, and she tackled him in a hug, burying her face in his jacket. "You played so well," she said, her voice muffled by his jacket.

Oikawa chuckled and hugged her back. "Would you look at that, a hug from Mika-chan."

"Shut up."

He hummed in response. "Yes, ma'am."

Mikaela let go, huffing, and wiped at her eyes. Tears were starting to form. "It's not fair," she said, her voice nearly cracking. "I want you both to go to nationals."

Oikawa shrugged. "It is what it is."

"No, it's not," she argued, crossing her arms. "It's not fair."

"Mikaela?"

She turned to see Iwaizumi heading towards them, holding a gym bag in his hands. She walked towards him and hugged him tightly, exhaling slowly in a vain attempt to prevent herself from crying. "You guys did so well."

"Not good enough, though," he said bitterly.

"Shut up. You did amazing."

He let go of her. "Thank you," Iwaizumi said, forcing a smile.

"You'll come to the game tomorrow, right?" she asked, turning to glance between the two of them. "You guys could walk me to the train station after."

Oikawa frowned. "Train station? Why?"

"Uh, my surgery? Obviously?"

His jaw dropped. "Surgery?"

It suddenly dawned on her that she'd forgotten to mention this to Oikawa. She turned to Iwaizumi, who was rolling his eyes at his best friend. "Iwaizumi will fill you in," she said with a soft smile. "I texted him about it and I just assumed that he'd told you too."

Oikawa glared at Iwaizumi, betrayal sketched on his face. "He most certainly did _not."_

"Great. Well, I've got to get going, I love you both-" Mikaela was about to take off when someone else walked into the area, and her voice caught in her throat. "Oh. Ushijima."

He nodded at them, his gaze lingering on Oikawa for a second longer. "Hello. I-"

She stepped up towards him, pointing a finger at his face, and with as much ferocity as she could muster, Mikaela snapped, "tomorrow, we are going to _kick your ass."_

With that being said, she stomped off towards the door, where Kageyama was waiting for her. Tomorrow was Shiratorizawa.

They had a game to win.

* * *

 **Hi again friends! Hope you all are well!**

 **Huohua Duvessa:** Lots of first year interaction in this one (mostly Tsukki ;) ) and obviously some Aoba Johsai interactions, so much in this chapter! I'm glad you liked the third year interactions, I enjoy writing them. Me too! I love Nishinoya, he's so underrated. Thank you so so much for your review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** Trust me, I'm very tempted to just throw them together XD I hope the Tsukishima X Mikaela interaction at the start of the chapter was satisfactory! Thank you kindly for your review! :D

 **Sapphiresushi:** I hope you liked the bit at the start then ;) I'm so glad you liked the Daichi interaction, he's such an underrated character and I loved giving him a chance to shine. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **hannymae:** I KNOW RIGHT I'M SO LUCKYYY

 **Swaggishima:** Aw, thank you! Thank you so much! :D

 **jily shiper:** Better late than never :P Kudos would be nice, I've seen that on ao3 and it's cool. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Oh my god over two hundred follows and one hundred fifty favourites? I'm so blessed, thank you all so much!**

 **Much love for you all! :)**


	32. The Finals

**Thank you to Tribble. Chan, Skyfern, SumiJepson, Thistle-Chan, Naliyu, Takinginspiration1, cowuniversity, CreamPI, BaeOfTheBooks, Sayori1412, Swaggishima, AmIValid2, and Shadow Wolf 15846 for your wonderful support!**

* * *

Mikaela was more freaked out about the finals than she was willing to admit. The bus ride was even worse than the last one- the tension levels were the highest she'd ever seen them, and the ominous sinking feeling seemed to swallow the team whole.

"Nervous?" she asked Kageyama as the bus pulled to a stop.

He shook his head. "No, why?"

"Because any sane person would be nervous right about now," Mikaela joked, punching him lightly in the shoulder. "The fact that you're not is making me nervous."

Kageyama frowned. "Why would you be nervous?"

She groaned, moving down the bus aisle and down the steps. "I think you're going to be the only one on this team that isn't nervous at all."

"If you say so," he muttered. She paused once she got off the bus and waited for Kageyama to join her. They walked side by side with the rest of the Karasuno team towards the gymnasium entrance. "Are you nervous for your surgery?" he asked.

Mikaela shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Oh, did I mention that Mom's not coming?"

Kageyama stiffened. "She's not? Why?"

"Work, obviously." Mikaela bit her lip. "I don't really care either way-"

"Wait- Kaela, your mom isn't going with you?" Yamaguchi asked, sliding up next to the pair of cousins. He frowned. "Who's going to be there with you?"

"I am-" Kageyama started, raising her hand, and Mikaela swatted at his hand.

"No. No way are you coming. You're staying with the team for the closing ceremonies and going home like everyone else." Mikaela jammed her hands into her jacket pockets. "I'll be fine. You can come up and visit _after_ you go home and get a good night's sleep. This is a five set game, you're going to be exhausted."

Hinata popped up on the other side of Kageyama. "Wow! We get to play five whole sets?"

"Or you could beat them in three," Mikaela suggested with a grin.

Hinata nodded eagerly. "I'm so pumped!" His smile fell. "Wait, are you going to be in the hospital alone?"

She shrugged. "Oikawa and Iwaizumi are walking me to the train station," a collective shudder fell over the group at the mention of Oikawa's name, "and Kuroo's picking me up when I'm there and taking me to the hospital."

Yamaguchi blinked. "We're putting your life in the hands of Kuroo from Nekoma?"

"That's a bad idea," Tsukishima remarked, sliding up to the other side of Yamaguchi.

She glared at him. "Since when were you a part of this conversation?"

"Do you have Kuroo's number?" Kageyama asked. She shook her head. "How's he know when to pick you up?"

"I told him the time," Mikaela said quickly, not wanting to spark any arguments of the sort, not right before their game. "He knows where." She turned her head towards Hinata, who was typing furiously on his phone. "Shoyo," she said, frowning, "what are you doing?"

"Texting Kenma."

Tsukishima (curse him and his height) peered over the orange-haired boy's shoulder. His blank face morphed into a smirk. "Well, he isn't lying," he said coyly, glancing at Mikaela.

Her jaw locked. "Shoyo, what are you texting him?"

"You'll say no," he mumbled, slinking away from the group.

"You're doing it anyways!"

She leaned forwards but Kageyama cut her off, glancing at his teammate's phone. He raised his eyebrows. "Ah. Smart."

Tsukishima snorted. "Shrimp's got a grand total of three brain cells, he's just lucky that one of them is happening to function at the moment."

 _"What_ is going on?" Mikaela hissed, bypassing Kageyama and snatching at Hinata's phone. She cursed his good reflexes as he ducked out of the way, weaving around Yamaguchi and causing Mikaela to nearly trip over the pinch server's feet. Kageyama grabbed one of her arms, keeping her from falling. "Shoyo, I swear, if you don't show me what you're doing _right now-"_

"Something wrong over there?"

The first years collectively raised their heads towards Daichi, who was standing next to Sugawara and Asahi in front of the gym entrance with a peculiar expression on his face. Mikaela supposed that they must've looked a little weird: Hinata was hiding behind Tsukishima, of all people, Yamaguchi was scooting backwards, Mikaela was tipped forwards, and Kageyama was stretched in front of all of them, clutching Mikaela's arm and leaning towards her.

"Nothing, Captain," Tsukishima said casually. "Mikaela's just as riled up as always."

She shot him a glare. "I am _not-"_

Her phone dinged with a message. Nothing unusual. However, what _was_ unusual was everyone's reactions: Tsukishima, Kageyama, Yamaguchi, and Hinata all shrunk back from her and held their breaths collectively.

Mikaela frowned and pulled out her phone.

 ** _Unknown (9:39):_** _Hey, Temper-san~_

"You gave _Kuroo_ my _number?!"_

"Well, technically, I gave it to Kenma-"

"Yeah, and you asked him to give it to Kuroo-"

"Not helping, Crappy-shima!"

 _"Shoyo!"_

* * *

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (9:42):_** _Never text this number unless it's an emergency._

 ** _Kuroo Tetser_** ** _ō (9:43)_** ** _:_** _So... text you all the time ;)_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (9:43):_** _You're so dead._

* * *

The Shiratorizawa cheer section was insane. There were more cheerleaders than Mikaela had ever seen in her life. Takinoue and Shimada had rounded up a formidable group of two dozen people, but they had absolutely nothing on the Shiratorizawa cheer section. Two of Hinata's school friends had joined them in the stands, but Mikaela couldn't remember their names.

She handed her notebook off to Shimizu as the team warmed up on the court. "Everything I've got is in there," she said solemnly, her fingers clasped tight on the book's binding. "I hope it'll be useful."

Her senpai smiled. "Thank you, Kaisha. I'm sure it will be."

Mikaela beamed. "No problem, Shi- Kiyoko! Kiyoko."

Shimizu smiled at her once more, then turned around to go talk with Takeda. Mikaela grabbed a stray volleyball and tossed it back into the cart it belonged in before looking towards the Shiratorizawa side of the court. She recognized the boy with spiky red hair from multiple videos online- Tendō Satori- and when she accidentally caught his eye, he grinned wildly. She tried to move her gaze somewhere else and ended up meeting Ushijima's eyes.

He held her gaze before nodding at her. She nodded back. The super ace turned away and went back to warm up.

Mikaela wished the Karasuno boys luck one last time, hugged Kageyama, Hinata, and Yamaguchi (Tsukishima wouldn't dare come that close to her), waved to the rest of them, and left the gym to go and find the stairs up to the stands. She found the small Karasuno cheering section and grinned when she saw who else was there. "Akiteru!"

The familiar blond boy turned towards her and his face split into a smile. "Kaisha! What's up?"

"You know each other?" Saeko asked, looking between the two of them.

"You could say that," Akiteru said with a grin. Mikaela glared at him and he mimed zipping his lips closed.

Shimada and Takinoue were already locked into the game. "This is nothing new for Shiratorizawa," Takinoue explained, tightening his headband, "but this is Karasuno's first time in the finals. Their first time in center court. Asking them to stay calm and collected is a bit much."

Mikaela snorted. "Have you seen them at all? When are they ever calm or collected?"

Saeko laughed. "True that!"

"So this is their first best-three-of-five game too, then?" Akiteru mused, leaning on the rail. Mikaela was stuck in between Saeko and Akiteru, so she was looking back and forth as they both talked.

Shimada explained to Saeko was a best-three-of-five game was and the older Tanaka's mouth dropped. "Holy crap, that's going to exhaust them!"

"Kageyama and Hinata probably won't even notice," Mikaela pointed out.

The whistle blew to signal the start of the match, and Daichi was up to serve. His serve landed out, so Shiratorizawa was up next. The player got a let serve, and even though Tsukishima called Tanaka's name, both Tanaka and Asahi went to dive for the ball and paused, unsure of who would get it. It ended up in a campfire, scoring another point for Shiratorizawa.

"Kei, speak louder next time!" Akiteru hissed, his fingers clamping around the railing.

Mikaeal grinned. "Actually, that's pretty good for him. He used to not say anything at all, and now he's started calling things out."

Akiteru paused. "Really?

"Yep," she assured him. "I mean, he'd much rather it not be him, right?"

He laughed. "Well, you're not wrong."

Mikaela wasn't surprised when Sugawara started yelling at his team to calm down, and she actually started laughing when the referee gave Suga the stink-eye. Snickering to herself, Mikaela leaned back, nearly bumping into Akiteru, and watched as Daichi received the next serve and Kageyama set it up for Tsukishima. Shiratorizawa received, and their setter put the ball up for Ushijima.

Mikaela was in awe. His form was practically perfect.

He spiked the ball hard enough that Mikaela could clearly hear the contact from where she was in the stands. Nishinoya immediately slipped into position to receive, and this was the moment Mikaela had been waiting for.

* * *

 _"Mikaela! Tomorrow we face Shiratorizawa, right?"_

 _She laughed. "Yes, Nishinoya, Coach literally just explained that."_

 _Nishinoya frowned and crossed his arms. The team had just returned from their match against Aoba Johsai and had started discussing strategy for tomorrow, when they would face Shiratorizawa in the finals. "Practice," he insisted._

 _Mikaela raised an eyebrow. "Lefty shots?"_

 _"Yep!"_

 _Not wanting to completely tire Nishinoya out before their game the next day, Mikaela decided to keep their practice time to a minimum. It wasn't like Nishinoya needed practice anyways; his receives were nearly perfect, which was a humongous improvement from when they first started._

 _"Tomorrow," Nishinoya declared as he bumped another volleyballs, "when I receive Ushiwaka's spikes, I'll be able to do it because of you."_

 _Mikaela flushed. "Oh, come on. You're giving me too much credit. You would've handled it fine."_

 _The libero grinned. "Not without you!"_

 _"You're one of a kind, Nishinoya," she said with a laugh._

 _His smile lit up the whole room. "Of course!"_

* * *

She and Nishinoya had been working on receiving left-handed spikes since the training camp two months ago. They'd tried it from various angles and different levels of power, and although it seemed like he'd gotten the hang of it, he always wanted more practice. This was the moment of truth.

The ball hit Nishinoya's arm and went straight up in a perfect arc.

"Yes!" Mikaela screamed, grabbing Akiteru's arm as Nishinoya rolled backwards and Kageyama moved in to set. "He got it! That was perfect!" Kageyama put the ball up for Tanaka, who punched it through and got Karasuno's first point.

"What was so cool about that?" Saeko asked, puzzled.

Mikaela wasn't even looking at her. Her eyes were following Nishinoya as the team complimented his receive. The libero turned up to the stands and pointed at her before clenching his hand into a fist.

She beamed and held out her fist right back at him. _That was all you, Nishinoya._

"Wait, you taught him how to do that?" Akiteru asked. "Receiving left-handed stuff?"

"Not really. We just practiced it a lot."

"Is it that much different?" Shimada asked.

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah, it's got a completely different spin that normal spikes do."

"You're a lefty?" Akiteru pressed.

"...Yes."

"No, you're not," Takinoue argued, lowering the megaphone in his hands. "When you had your notebook, you were writing things down with your right hand, weren't you?" Mikaela nodded. "So you're not a lefty?"

"But she said that she and Nishinoya practiced them together, so it makes sense that's she a lefty," Shimada pointed out.

Saeko frowned, crossing her arms under her bust. "But she wrote with her right!"

"Right!" Takinoue agreed.

"Left?" Mikaela threw it, just to make the conversation more confusing.

Akiteru groaned. "Kaisha! I thought you were a righty!"

"Ambidextrous."

The group sighed collectively, glad to finally have an answer for their dilemma. The game rolled on, and although the score wasn't as close as Mikaela would've liked, Karasuno was dangling behind by three or four points at various points in the set. Mikaela exchanged quick comments with Akiteru as the game went on, talking about his brother and how logical he was, or how Karasuno's defense was starting to come together. Hinata was finally starting to settle into the game when set one ended, 25 - 21. Set two was starting and it didn't look good for Karasuno.

"Your brother's actually gotten a lot better," Mikaela remarked.

Akiteru turned to face her. "Really?"

"I wouldn't say that he's as hooked on volleyball as the rest of the team, but I think he's starting to enjoy it, at least," she said as Karasuno pulled off a synchronized attack to score the first point of set two. "I mean, he's still as miserable as ever, but it's gotten better."

"I think I have to take some of the blame for that."

Mikaela paused, glancing up at him. "Blame for what?"

"Why he's so against getting attached to volleyball," Akiteru clarified, sighing.

She knew there was some bigger reason that Tsukishima wasn't as into volleyball as everyone else, but Mikaela had never dared to ask- Tsukishima was a very closed-off person and she didn't want to risk ruining their friendship. She hadn't considered that maybe Akiteru would've been the cause. "Oh?" she mumbled, turning back to the game.

He nodded. "Has Kei ever told you?"

"No," Mikaela admitted quietly. "We're... We're not that close."

"Really?" Akiteru asked, surprised. "I'd say he's closer to you than just about anyone, besides Tadashi, of course."

It took a second for Mikaela to comprehend that Tadashi meant Yamaguchi, and when the statement finally sunk in, she perked up. "Really? You think so?"

"Well, yeah. Didn't you convince him to play twenty questions a while back?"

She laughed. "Yeah, he's got seven questions left at this point, I have four. He never lets me forget it." They both had sporadically used their questions since they had started their game a few weeks ago. Mikaela had a bad habit of using her questions to get the answers for complicated math problems that she didn't understand out of Tsukishima. He used his more sparingly, like the one time he asked her what snack she wanted after she had refused to tell him because she didn't want him to pay for her when they were out with Yamaguchi.

He grinned. "He doesn't voluntarily share information with anyone. I'd say that's a win." They wallowed in silence until Akiteru spoke up again. "I was the ace on my team in Junior High," he started, watching Tendō roof Hinata's spike. "I loved every second of it. Kei came to see every game." He sighed wistfully. "I went to Karasuno and I didn't even make it on the roster, but I couldn't bring myself to tell Kei. I lied, every day. I told him practice went well, or that we won a game, and then we'd go to the backyard and practice."

Mikaela held her breath.

"I told him..." Akiteru trailed off briefly before continuing. "I told him that he'd scare me if he came to my games. Eventually, he thought he'd surprise me and show up to a game with Tadashi. Let's just say he saw me cheering the team on instead of on the bench and it sort of crushed him after that." He laughed bitterly. "Sorry."

They watched in silence as Tendō roofed Kageyama, which surprised Mikaela, but it wasn't the right moment to comment on it. "Tsukishima just takes a while to trust people, is all," she mumbled quietly.

Akiteru hummed in agreement. "I'm glad he's got friends like you and Tadashi to watch his back."

"He doesn't consider us friends," Mikaela said quickly, and that was the moment when she realized she was genuinely upset that Tsukishima didn't see them as friends. Only acquaintances. _Shit, I must've sunk really low if I'm upset that that idiot doesn't consider me a friend._

He frowned. "What're you-"

"Look," Mikaela interjected, eager to change the subject as she pointed at the court. "Karasuno just took a time out, and Kageyama got roofed by Tendō three times in a row. He's totally zinging one over his head this point."

"You think?" Saeko asked, leaning forwards. Sure enough, Hinata's quick spike went straight over Tendō's head. "Huh, you're good."

She shrugged. "He's a sore loser." A thought occurred to her, and she turned to Saeko. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"Nothing I haven't heard before, hon," Saeko assured her. She clapped her on the shoulder and Mikaela nearly flinched. "It's cute that you think you're not friends, though. Even if he doesn't admit it."

Mikaela finally relented. "Okay, well, we're friends, but we're not that close or anything." _Lies, lies, lies. The only person I'm closer with than him is Kageyama._

Saeko pondered her words for a minute as Hinata nailed a slide attack, making the score in the second set 11 - 11. Mikaela heard her sharp intake of breath and cringed as Saeko cried out, "oh my god!"

"What?" Mikaela snapped, fed up with the intrusions.

"You _like_ him!"

 _"What?!"_ Mikaela and Akiteru chorused in unison.

Saeko's grin stretched all the way across her face. "You- Girl talk. Akiteru, shoo."

"But I-" he protested lamely. Saeko glared at him, and Mikaela was impressed by how much ferocity she threw into her glare. "Fine," Akiteru grumbled, moving to stand on the other side of Shimada and Takinoue.

Tanaka's older sister beamed and turned back to Mikaela. Her grin widened. "You're bright red, hon."

"I am not," Mikaela protested immediately, completely positive that her face was as red as a tomato. "I don't like him."

"You sure about that?" she mused as Ushijima nailed a spike so hard that the volleyball flew into the stands. "You seemed pretty disappointed when you mentioned that he didn't see you guys as friends."

She shrugged unconvincingly. "...Maybe I just want to be friends."

Saeko raised an eyebrow at her.

"I don't know," Mikaela conceded, slumping against the railing. "Maybe?"

She laughed, patting her on the shoulder. "Boys, hm? Always confusing." They both paused to watch Tsukishima block the opposing team's delayed spike, making the score 16 - 15 for Shiratorizawa. "Look, I'm not going to ask what you see in him or why you like him or whatever-"

"I don't," she protested feebly.

"-I just want you to acknowledge it," Saeko continued, shrugging. "It's better than going on in denial."

They watched the rest of the match in relative silence as the realization began to sink into Mikaela's head. The set continued on- it was 20 - 20. Okay, so maybe she looked at Tsukishima a bit more than anyone else, but that was fine, right? Nothing suspicious. Besides, he was incredibly annoying, and he was always looking for a way to bother her. In all fairness, she bothered him just as much; that was just because she liked pissing him off. He made her laugh, and she tried her hardest to make him smile or let him open up a bit. Nothing wrong with that, right?

A service ace from Asahi tipped the score to 23 - 22 for Karasuno, and Mikaela cheered along with the rest of the Karasuno crowd, but her mind was somewhere else. Sure, she stayed over at his place twice a week, but it wasn't like anything ever happened. She stayed on the couch, he went into his room to study, she didn't talk to him again until the morning. Besides, he'd seen her multiple times in her pajamas and messy bed head, there was no way he'd be attracted to that. Just because he always seemed to look good no matter what he was wearing or what he was doing didn't mean she liked him.

Shiratorizawa's setter did a setter dump to put them at set point, but Mikaela just hummed to herself: first available opportunity, Kageyama was going to do a setter dump right back at him. Sure enough, two points later, Kageyama's setter dump worked perfectly, putting the score at 25 - 24 for Karasuno.

Her heart was in the game, but her mind was pondering the puzzle that was Tsukishima Kei. Sure, she looked at him a lot, and his opinion was a little bit more important to her than it should've been, and sometimes she got a feeling that maybe he felt the same, and-

 _Shit._

"Shit," Mikaela said aloud.

Saeko laughed. "There ya go."

"Oh no," she mumbled, nearly smacking her head off the railing as she sunk down. "No, no, no- _shit-_ oh my god, I like him."

On the court, the score was 26 - 25 for Karasuno, and Shiratorizawa called a time out. Shimada, Takinoue, and Akiteru immediately started bouncing theories and strategies between each other, but Mikaela wasn't having it. Saeko was too busy laughing. "What tipped you off?" she teased.

Mikaela's eyes lingered on Tsukishima as he took his glasses off of his head briefly to wipe the sweat away. "I guess... Maybe..." She huffed. "I hate feelings."

"I understand," Saeko said quietly, and Mikaela couldn't help but wonder what kind of experiences she had had in her past.

The score climbed. Shiratorizawa was up 27 - 26, but then Kageyama and Hinata pulled off an insane quick attack that dragged the score back up to a tie. Mikaela was at her wit's end- this game was so ridiculously close and she was stressed beyond belief.

Karasuno managed to pull ahead, 30 - 29. _They're already hitting thirty points. They must be exhausted._

Then it happened.

Shiratorizawa's setter rushed the set ever so slightly. Mikaela straightened up, her eyes trained in on Tsukishima as he moved up next to Asahi to block. At the last second, Tsukishima shifted his arms to the space that Ushijima was trying to punch the ball through. The volleyball hit Tsukishima's arms and fell to Shiratorizawa's side of the court.

He blocked Ushijima. The set was theirs.

 _"Yes!"_ Mikaela screamed, her voice lost in the sea of yells coming from the Karasuno team and the people who had come to watch. "Oh my god, yes! He blocked him! Saeko! He-"

Saeko was grinning as widely as she was, but her eyes were trained on the court. Mikaela followed her gaze to where the Karasuno team was congratulating Tsukishima. As if on cue, he glanced up at the stands. Mikaela flashed him a thumbs up, grinning as widely as she could. He didn't say or do anything, but his mouth twitched in a smile before he moved towards his bench.

Mikaela sighed happily. Saeko cackled. "Yep, you're screwed."

 _"Saeko!"_

* * *

 **I wanted to get all of the Shiratorizawa game done in this chapter but there's just too much going on: Mikaela's number getting to Kuroo, Nishinoya, her moment with Akiteru, her realization with Saeko... and I've got an even bigger thing planned for the rest of the match ;)**

 **Sayori1412:** I was hoping that I'd get to the surgery next chapter but this chappie was just dragging on... oh well, that just means more chapters ;) I know the feeling, every time I reread Kageyama's setter dump in the Aoba Johsai match I squeal xD Thank you so much for your review!

 **AmIValid2:** Me too... :,(

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you! :)

 **Skyfern:** Thank you so much for your many reviews! That's so cool that you're in Tokyo, I really want to go there one day. We'll have to wait and see for the surgery... Thank you! :)

 **Takinginspiration1:** Yeah, killing off her dad was hard, and her mother's a nasty person. Thank you for your review! :)

 **Swaggishima:** Not a lot of TsukiMika interaction this chapter, but I'm guessing you'll love next week's chapter ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Thank you for your patience, much love! :)**


	33. The Rival

**Wow! Thank you so much to Guest, Megan VR, Swaggishima, jily shiper, Sayori1412, hannymae, Kitty, Thistle-Chan, Daughter of the Oceans, Zoreux, Shadow Wolf 15846, Frenchie Is French, AmIValid2, chibi-no-baka, cowuniversity, B345r1zX, BlueJae3, Mixie18, Vladmir-Lestrange, Hawthorn96, UnknownDaddy, syzygy zacker, Free Range Chicken, limyuna0, and Celestialstarshine for your follows, favourites, and reviews! :D**

* * *

Whatever hope that Mikaela had managed to amass for herself had curled up and died in the third set, but she refused to let herself be pessimistic. Karasuno never had a chance in the third set, losing 25 - 21. Shiratorizawa had taken a step back from the second set and it had paid off for them so far; they were one set away from winning the finals.

"This is so stressful," she mumbled under her breath.

Saeko leaned towards her and grinned. "What, the game or your crush?"

"It's not a crush," she defended instantly.

"You keep telling yourself that, honey, but you just admitted less than a minute ago that maybe it was more," Saeko teased. "You can't take it back now."

"Take what back?" Akiteru asked, popping back into the conversation.

"Nothing!" Mikaela hissed as the first serve of set four went way out of bounds. "Nothing at all!"

Saeko laughed loudly. "Just girl stuff, Akiteru. Girl stuff."

He sighed, "well, I guess I wouldn't understand even if I wanted to." Mikaela and Saeko shared a quick glance with each other and grinned. "Hey, look! Nishinoya got a clean receive!" They all glanced back to the court as Kageyama struggled to set the ball up for Asahi, who punched it to the court floor to make it 2 - 0 for Karasuno. "Only because of Kei's blocking," he added proudly.

Shimada grinned. "I think he's starting to stretch his wings a little."

The rallies dragged on and on. Shiratorizawa came back quickly to tie it up at 4 - 4, and from there the points just went back and forth. At one point, Shiratorizawa got a break point and made the score 11 - 9, but Karasuno came back with an attack from Asahi and then a block point from Hinata, which brought the score back to a tie at 11 - 11. The score kept climbing slowly, with Shiratorizawa always taking the first point with Karasuno following close behind, until they managed to pull ahead with a break point at the twenty-point mark. Karasuno was up 22 - 21 when Yamaguchi came up as a pinch server.

"He's really grown up," Akiteru remarked as Yamaguchi moved to his spot on the outside of the court, preparing for his serve.

Mikaela nodded eagerly. "I know, right? I've only known him for a few months and he's changed so much."

To her surprise (and absolute delight), Yamaguchi's serve was success in flustering the other team, and Tsukishima pulled off a delayed spike to get them another break point, making the score 23 - 21. As the team congratulated him, Tsukishima glanced up at the stands and nodded at her before turning back to the team. Mikaela felt her face heat up.

"Did you have something to do with that play?" Akiteru asked as Saeko harassed Shimada for more information about what just happened.

She nodded, feeling the blush in her cheeks. "W- Well, when we were at the training camp, I suggested that he learn that because it's an asshole move."

Akiteru laughed. "Well, you're not wrong."

"He pulled it off perfectly," Mikaela said triumphantly, folding her arms and resting them on the railing. "And Kageyama synced up with him perfectly too."

The next point went to Shiratorizawa thanks to Ushijima, but the play afterwards, Kageyama went to set for Tsukishima and ended up sending it a bit too high. Thankfully, Tsukishima managed to snap out his arm at the last second to tip the ball gently over the net.

"So much for Kageyama syncing up with him perfectly," Takinoue muttered.

Mikaela shot him a glare. "Oi, he's tired, give him a break."

"He needs one," Shimada agreed. "He's touched the ball more than anyone else."

"Kei's reflexes were great," Akiteru pointed out. "I'm surprised he got that."

"Me too," Saeko said, her eyes darting to Mikaela. "Though I bet _someone_ knew it was going to happen."

Mikaela didn't even rise to the bait. Her gaze was stuck on the game. Karasuno had set point and were up by two, so Shiratorizawa needed a break point. If they could just manage to hold them off...

Unfortunately, Shiratorizawa managed to secure a break point when Ushijima nailed a spike, then tipped it over the block for two quick points in a row. Mikaela narrowed her eyes at Kageyama, who seemed to be talking to the red-haired blocker from the other team, Tendō. She remembered him from countless Shiratorizawa videos and such.

Suddenly, Kageyama glanced up at the stands and made eye contact with her. She forced a smile on her face. Then, Tendō followed Kageyama's gaze, and they made awkward eye contact. She couldn't look any longer; Mikaela turned away, flustered.

"What was that about?" Akiteru asked.

She just shrugged. "No idea."

* * *

"Oh noes! A deuce! Is that sounding like the end of the world for the poor widdle pooped setter-kun?" the opposing blocker teased, cocking his head awkwardly as he grinned at Kageyama.

That hit differently for Kageyama. He'd heard taunting, sure, especially at a point like this in any game. But it was just what he said and the way he said it...

"The end of the world?" Kageyama scoffed, then turned to make fierce eye contact with the red-head. "Why? The only thing that'll ever be like that to me is the news that..."

He stopped, choking on the words. Tendō cocked his head, curious.

"The news that I'll never play volleyball again," Kageyama forced out, glaring for one last second at Tendō before glancing up to the audience. Mikaela was leaned forward on the railing, and when he made eye contact with her, she grinned.

Tendō frowned and followed his gaze. "Oh, your twin? Wakatoshi-kun was talking about her earlier- wait- you don't mean-" He turned to Kageyama in disbelief. _"Seriously?!"_

Kageyama didn't say a word. He turned around walked back to his team.

* * *

"Come on, guys," Shimada mumbled, squeezing the megaphone in his hands hard enough to break it.

Mikaela was feeling similar anxiety. She laced her fingers together, set her elbows on the rail, and rested her chin on the hands. _Come on, Karasuno, you can do this-_

Daichi received the incoming serve and Asahi spiked it through. "Yes!" she and Saeko cried in unison. 25 - 24 for Karasuno, one more point and they would win the set.

Then it got worse. Asahi's killer serve was shakily received and sent long, but when both Tendō and Tsukishima went up for it, Tendō ended up coming out on top. "Man, their number five is good," Saeko grumbled.

Mikaela nodded as Ushijima went up to serve. "Yeah, in a lot of the videos I watched, he was always a star on defense. He's just overlooked because Ushijima's on the team."

Ushijima got a let serve and the sideline winced collectively. "Why now?" Akiteru mumbled, watching the scorekeeper flip the score to 26 - 25 for Shiratorizawa. "One point and they win."

"It was worse in the Aoba Johsai match," Mikaela said quietly. "They were down 24 - 22 in set three."

"You're kidding," he replied in disbelief.

Karasuno called a time out. Mikaela squeezed her hands into fists. _Come on, come on, you have to get this point, come on..._ She was squeezing her fingernails into her palms so tightly that she wouldn't have been surprised if she drew blood. Her phone buzzed, and she frowned before pulling it out.

 _ **Oikawa T** **ō** **ru (12:42):** Mika-chan! I'm at the game!_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (12:42):_** _Is Iwaizumi here?_

 _ **Oikawa T** **ō** **ru (12:42):** Rude, no concern for me_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (12:43):_ **_Meh_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (12:43):_** _Is he?_

The whistle blew to signal the ending of the timeout. Mikaela glared at her phone, then at the court, waiting for a reply. For the next point, Nishinoya couldn't completely get under Ushijima's serve and it ended up being sent back over the net as a free ball. Mikaela held her breath as they put the ball up for one of their left side hitters. Tsukishima and Kageyama reacted at the same time, jumping together and getting the block point. Tied at 26.

"Oh thank god," Mikaela said with a sigh, sinking into the railing in relief. She glanced at her phone as Tsukishima went up to serve.

 _ **Oikawa T** **ō** **ru (12:43):** No, you only have me here so far :)_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (12:45):_** _Who you cheering for?_

 _ **Oikawa T** **ō** **ru (12:45):** No one, I want you both to lose_

Mikaela snorted and shut her phone off, ready to watch the next point as Tsukishima served. Hinata was on the court now, and from the look on his face, he was ready to nail a few quick sets and wrap up the set. Sugawara got subbed in for Tsukishima, and her eyes followed the blond middle blocker as he moved to the bench and sat down, accepting water from Kinoshita.

"You're staring," Saeko sang quietly.

She felt her cheeks heat up as she ripped her gaze away. "I am _not!"_

"Denial is a cruel thing," she said with a dramatic sigh, shaking her head as she turned towards Shimada. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Shimada, who had no idea what the context of the conversation was, looked like he was about to reply when Mikaela cut in. "If you _dare,"_ she threatened, "say absolutely anything that would prompt Saeko into continuing this conversation, I _will_ hit you."

He, Takinoue, and Akiteru shuddered in unison. "Yes, ma'am," he muttered, turning back to the game as Sugawara served.

"Way to establish your place," Saeko said, impressed, but Mikaela's eyes were on the rally at hand. Tendō spiked it around Hinata's block but Sugawara managed to save it. Kageyama put it up for Hinata, but Tendō read him immediately and managed to block Hinata's attack. Fortunately for Karasuno, the ball rebounded off Tendō's arm and went out of bounds. Another point for Karasuno.

Shiratorizawa took the next point, then Tanaka managed to secure the next point for Karasuno, making it 28 - 27. They were still ahead, but they needed a break point if they wanted to win.

Kageyama was up to serve. "Drop it short," Mikaela hissed under her breath when she saw how far back Shiratorizawa's defense was positioned, "drop it short, drop it short-"

He dropped the serve short. Mikaela cackled to herself, and Akiteru shot her a weird look. Nishinoya received Shiratorizawa's spike, and Kageyama moved forwards to put it up for Hinata, but the set was too short- he was more tired than he let on. Thankfully, Hinata's left hand shot out, and he knocked the ball over the net at the last second for a point. Karasuno won.

"Two sets to two!" Akiteru cheered, grabbing Mikaela in a hug.

Mikaela hugged him back, grinning to herself. "They won the set!"

She was about to say something to Saeko when her phone binged, and she pulled the screen up to her face.

 _ **Iwaizumi Hajime (12:51):** Behind you. Top of the stands._

She didn't even take the time to type out a reply. She glanced behind her, her dark blue eyes scanning the seats for her senpai, and she grinned when she saw Oikawa perched on the seat at the far back, Iwaizumi standing behind him. "Be right back," she said quickly, not waiting for acknowledgement from Akiteru or Saeko before she took off up the stands, grinning wildly. "You came!" she called.

Oikawa scowled. "I'm only here because I know I'll get to see one of you lose."

"He's just sour, ignore him." Iwaizumi grinned and extended his arms out. Mikaela fell into his hug with a sigh. "Excited for the surgery?"

"Kind of?" she replied, relaxing into his embrace for a half second before pulling back. "To be honest, I haven't thought about it much."

Iwaizumi was about to add something when Oikawa cut him off. "Oi, Mika-chan, who's that guy you hugged down there?" He pointed down towards where she had been, at Akiteru. His glasses tipped sideways on his face.

"Akiteru. He's Tsukishima's older brother."

"How'd you get so close with him?" Oikawa asked, frowning.

"I-"

It suddenly occurred to Mikaela that these two didn't know the whole story. They knew that her father had passed away and that her mother was a bitch, and she wouldn't have been surprised if Iwaizumi had figured out that she was staying at Kageyama's a whole lot more often than usual, but she'd never mentioned what went down with her mother and what her living arrangements had been for the past two months. Or how close she had gotten with the Tsukishima family. Or her newfound feelings for Tsukishima- _shut up Kaisha that's not relevant-_

"Well," she finally concluded, "it's a long story."

"We don't have to watch set five," Oikawa offered, and she shot him a dirty look. "Fine, fine, whatever. On the way to the train station?"

Mikaela bit her lip. "S... Sure. I'll try. It's all a bit complicated, really."

Iwaizumi shot her a knowing look and was about to say something when the whistle blew on the court to signal the start of the fifth set. "Go back to your spot, cheer on your team," he urged, glancing over her shoulder and at the court. "We'll be here when you're done."

"Thanks," she replied, relieved. "We have to get going pretty quickly after this. The train leaves at two o'clock."

"By the way, the girls' finals started in the other gym," Oikawa added before she turned away.

Her blood went cold. "Niiyama? They're playing?"

Oikawa and Iwaizumi exchanged a brief glance, then Iwaizumi nodded. "Yeah. They are. We passed a few of them coming in."

"Thanks for... for warning me," Mikaela said, her head starting to spin. _Let's pray I don't have to see any of them today._ She waved goodbye to both of them before skipping back down the stairs to her spot at the railing just as Karasuno scored the first point through Asahi. She cheered to herself and slipped between Akiteru and Saeko.

"This set's only fifteen points, right?" Akiteru asked, and Mikaela nodded. "So it'll pass fast."

"Good, because I have a train to catch," she joked dryly as Ushijima spiked the ball through Tsukishima's arms to score a point for Shiratorizawa. Tendō seemed to be taunting Sugawara out on the court- Ukai had wisely chosen to put Suga out instead of Kageyama, giving him time to rest- but the vice captain wasn't rising to the bait. A block out gave Karasuno their second point, then Sugawara spiked off a set from Nishinoya for their third point. Asahi got a let serve, resulting in a service ace, making the score 4 - 1 for Karasuno.

"Wow, what a lead!" Takinoue cried, waving his hands in the air. "Three points up!"

"As long as they can hold it," Mikaela agreed, grinning in spite of herself. This was looking good.

Several minutes later, she was proven to be a huge jinx. Not only did Shiratorizawa catch up, bringing the score up to a tie at 4 - 4, but they pulled ahead with two more quick points, making it 6 - 4 for Shiratorizawa. Mikaela pinched her lips in a tight line as Ushijima went up to serve for the fifth time. If they didn't get a point now, it'd be ridiculously difficult to come back from a three point loss.

She watched painfully as Ushijima's serve was sent back to Shiratorizawa as a free ball. Tsukishima managed to deflect the ball once, then twice, and Mikaela's heart was swelling with pride from how much he'd improved.

Then, he went up to block Ushijima, and the Shiratorizawa ace hit the ball out. Which would've been fine if the ball hadn't nicked Tsukishima's finger. Losing the point sucked, sure, but Mikaela was significantly more concerned with how Tsukishima was cradling his hand.

"Shit," she cursed, accidentally shoving Saeko in her attempt to push away from the railing and find the stairs down. Her eyes never once left Tsukishima, who was glaring at his fingers and grimacing. Was that blood? "Shit!" Mikaela swore, tearing her eyes away so that she wouldn't accidentally trip down the stairs.

Mikaela stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning her head right and left as she tried to figure out what way to go. She took off, turning right, and stopped, which caused someone to plow into her back. "Hey!"

"Sorry!" Mikaela turned around to see Akiteru, panting. "You sure run fast!"

"He's hurt," she forced out, turning towards the gym doors. Tsukishima hadn't exited yet. "Crap, Akiteru, he's hurt, what if-"

"He'll be okay," Akiteru cut her off, frowning at her. "He'll be..."

He trailed off and looked at something behind her, so Mikaela turned around. Shimizu was leading Tsukishima out of the gym, and he had a cloth wrapped around his hand. Tsukishima made eye contact with her and his face tightened. He shifted his gaze to his older brother. "What're you doing here?" he snapped. "I saw you earlier too."

"Watching you play, of course," Akiteru retorted, crossing his arms. "If you've got that much snark left in you, I guess you're not dying."

"Of course I'm not," Tsukishima shot back, avoiding Mikaela's eyes. "I'm just completely useless at the most important point on the game. Oh, well, five sets is a long time. I'm exhausted. I could use a break right about now-"

Personal space be damned, Mikaela grabbed onto Tsukishima's arm. "Shut up," she said roughly, not missing how pointedly he avoided her gaze. She turned to Shimizu and nodded; they'd done multiple injury hand-offs throughout this tournament that Shimizu knew that Mikaela wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"Thank you," Shimizu said softly. She turned to Tsukishima. "When you come back, we won't have lost."

With that said, she turned away and went back to the gym. Mikaela tugged on Tsukishima's arm, but he didn't need the encouragement. He walked with her and Akiteru down to the nurse's office.

"Say, Kei," Akiteru said softly, moving to the other side of his younger brother, "are you avoiding Kaisha's gaze because you know she can see right through your phony act like I can?"

Tsukishima didn't reply, instead tilting his head down to glare at the floor. Mikaela shot Akiteru silent thank-yous in her head, because she was pretty sure that was why he wasn't looking at her, but she was just too nervous to ask.

"Tsukishima?" Mikaela said quietly, embarrassed that she was still holding onto his arm but unwilling to let go. "We'll be fine."

His reply was so quiet that she almost missed it. "Thank you," he muttered hoarsely.

The trio turned down another hallway. The nurse's office was in site, and Akiteru held the door open for the pair as they shuffled inside. He closed the door behind them, opting to wait outside. "He needs help," Mikaela said quickly, noticing the nurse was turned away and facing someone else.

The nurse glanced up, and she sighed. "Oh, dear. If you'll give me one minute-"

"Ma'am," Mikaela said desperately, letting go of Tsukishima's arm, "with all due respect, we're in the fifth and final set of the boys' finals, and we're nearly halfway through and trailing. He's a starting player that's vital to the team's success and every point he's off could mean another point that we could've turned it around. He needs to get back on immediately."

The nurse didn't seem to appreciate her tone, but she turned towards Tsukishima and inspected his hand. "Take a seat. I'll get you some bandages and I'll clean up the blood," she said softly, turning to move away towards a different room.

Mikaela relaxed, then glanced up at Tsukishima. He was staring at her with an expression on his face that she couldn't quite make out- gratitude? "What?" she asked, frowning.

"Nothing," he replied, moving to sit down on the bench.

"Let me see your hand," she insisted, and he sighed but raised his hand up. Mikaela gingerly accepted his hand in hers, sitting down on the bench next to him and turning his palm over. He was bleeding, but unless he was in bad pain, he should be able to go back out-

"Wait, _Mikaela?"_

Mikaela froze up. She recognized that voice.

She turned slowly towards the other bench in the room, where the nurse had been working with someone before Mikaela had pulled her out. A blonde girl was sitting on the bench with tape wrapped around her wrist. Worst of all, she was wearing a Niiyama jersey. There was no way Mikaela would be able to forget the face of the girl that had challenged her in the Niiyama tryouts, the blonde girl with the wicked serve that had never missed an opportunity to try and humiliate her.

Mikaela's tongue felt thick in her mouth. "Kinomi?"

Her rival from Niiyama glared at her. "What the hell? What're you doing here?"

Her grip on Tsukishima's hand tightened. If it hurt, he did nothing to let her know. "You're in the finals?" she managed, and Kinomi nodded. "What happened to you?"

"Subbed in as a pinch server, twisted my wrist diving for a ball. Pretty embarrassing, not that you care." Mikaela nearly flinched from the venom dripping from her words. "What even happened to you? One day, you're there, then you're not. What-"

"Who the hell are you?"

Mikaela could've hugged Tsukishima right then and there. His sharp voice rang out clear in the nearly empty room, and judging from the coldness in his tone, he'd already decided that he didn't like her. "Kinomi Asui," she replied without missing a beat. "Your girlfriend's former teammate, not that she ever mentioned me, I bet."

"Nothing worth mentioning," Mikaela quipped, and Kinomi's eyes flashed dangerously. The 'girlfriend' comment hung in the air, but Tsukishima didn't say anything about it, so she let it drop.

"Really? Nothing? I bet the reason you _left_ was because you felt threatened." Kinomi leaned forwards, narrowing her eyes. Mikaela glanced sideways to the door that the nurse left from, but she hadn't returned yet. Her breathing was speeding up, and judging by the way Tsukishima lightly squeezed her hand, he could tell she was freaking out and trying to get her to calm down.

Tsukishima scoffed, and Mikaela turned to look at him. "Threatened? By you?" He turned to face her. "If you felt threatened by someone like _her,_ you must be quite the scaredy-cat, Mikaela."

She smirked at him, trying to swallow her initial panic. "No chance." Mikaela turned back to Kinomi. "You were subbed in as a pinch server? I take it you didn't make the starting line up?"

The blonde opened her mouth to reply but clamped her jaw shut as soon as the nurse came back into the room, muttering something under her breath. Mikaela realized she was still holding onto Tsukishima's hand and she let go, blushing. The nurse took Tsukishima's hand in her own and started cleaning up the blood.

The group wallowed in silence until the nurse said softly, "looks like your pinkie finger has been dislocated." Mikaela winced. "You should be fine to play as soon as I get it taped up. I'll be right back."

She left once again, and Mikaela stood up, shifting away from Tsukishima and crossing her arms awkwardly. Her eyes traveled everywhere except for Kinomi and Tsukishima.

 _Talk about awkward..._

"So," Kinomi said, her voice cold, "where do you play volleyball now?"

"I don't," she replied, avoiding eye contact. "I'm at Karasuno. I'm a manager for the boys' team."

"The _boys'_ team?!" Kinomi cried out, nearly causing Mikaela to flinch back. "Why the hell aren't you playing? You'd rather put up with pricks like this guy?" She jerked her chin at Tsukishima.

Mikaela finally met her gaze, glaring at her. "Say what you want about me, but don't insult my team," she snapped, pleased by how Kinomi stiffened in her spot. "He's twice as nice as you'll ever be."

"Excuse me?!"

"You're excused," Tsukishima muttered, leaning back against the wall.

Flustered, Kinomi glared at Mikaela before turning to lock gazes with Tsukishima. "I don't know what kind of act she's put on at your school," Kinomi said fiercely, apparently very eager to try and embarrass her, "but she's a stone cold bitch. She's a half-decent volleyball player, but besides that, she's got nothing."

 _That's it._ Mikaela pushed herself off the wall, moving towards Kinomi, but was stopped by a hand on her wrist. She turned around in surprise to see Tsukishima holding onto her wrist with his good hand. His eyes were locked on Kinomi in one of the coldest stares that she'd ever seen from him.

"Tsukishima?" she whispered, too surprised to try and pull her wrist away.

"She's got nothing?" Tsukishima said, his voice dangerously calm. Mikaela couldn't tear her eyes away from his face, which was gradually twisting into something angry. "Frankly, I've never seen her play volleyball, so for all I know, she's crap."

"Hey," she protested weakly.

He ignored her. "You also, apparently, know absolutely nothing about her, because if you did, you'd know she certainly amounts to much more than nothing."

Kinomi snorted. "Of course you'd say that, she's your girlfriend-"

"No, she's not," Tsukishima denied, and Mikaela couldn't help but feel her heart sink in her chest. "Honestly, she's pretty annoying, and not really that smart-" (Mikaela rolled her eyes) "-plus she has her moments where she's overly obnoxious and a pain in my ass."

 _Oh. So that's how he feels, then._ Suddenly, she didn't want any contact with him, and his grip on her wrist felt too tight. "Tsukishima," Mikaela mumbled, tugging her wrist away from him. "Let go."

He didn't. "But," Tsukishima continued, his voice softening, "she's also one of the strongest people I know, so I would hold off on the judgement because as soon as you learn even one thing that she's had to go through in the past few months, you'd agree."

She was speechless.

So was Kinomi.

Mikaela looked to Kinomi, who looked as surprised as she was. She turned back to Tsukishima, who let go of her wrist and dropped his own hand down into his lap. "My bad," he mumbled, turning his head away from her.

 _Is he... blushing?_

"Here's the tape," the nurse said as she bustled back into the room. "I'll get it taped up and you'll be good to go. Come see me as soon as the game's done and I'll check it again, alright?"

"Thank you," Tsukishima said quietly as the nurse started wrapping his ring finger and pinkie finger together.

Mikaela wanted to voice her thanks, but she couldn't find any way to speak. She and Kinomi made eye contact and the blonde cocked an eyebrow at her. Mikaela pursed her lips and turned away; she was positive that her face was bright red.

"All good," the nurse confirmed, finishing her taping job. "Good luck."

Tsukishima wasted no time jumping to his feet, and Mikaela yanked the door open. "Good luck," she blurted out to Kinomi, and without waiting to see her reaction, she took off after Tsukishima down the hall towards the gym. The roar from the gym grew louder and relieved some of the anxiety from Mikaela's head- the game was still going on, Karasuno was still in it.

"Wait!" Mikaela said suddenly, grabbing Tsukishima's wrist.

He stopped in front of the gym door, turning back to her. "What?"

 _Come on, Kaisha, just do it, just do it-_

Mikaela pushed up onto her tiptoes, tugged Tsukishima's wrist lightly to pull him towards her, and pressed her lips to his cheek as fast as she could. She pulled back and immediately stuttered, "g- good luck! I'll up in- be in- no, I'll be up in the stands- bye!"

Tsukishima's face betrayed his surprise. His face had been red from exhaustion, but now his cheeks were a reddish-pink. His mouth was open like he was trying to talk but couldn't think of the words to say.

She forced a quick smile, turned on her heel, and took off for the stairs, adrenaline coursing through her veins. As the roar of the crowd grew even closer, the hammering of her heart against her rib cage grew louder. Mikaela stopped herself halfway up the stairs, forcing herself to catch her breath.

 _I can't believe I just did that._

Mikaela grinned to herself as she made her way up the rest of the stairs. The game was still on, but Karasuno was down by one point while Shiratorizawa had the game point. The situation should've been nerve-wracking, terrifying, and full of tension, but Mikaela was surprised how assured she was.

Tsukishima was back. Karasuno was going to win.

* * *

 **Early update ;)**

 **In this house we stan CHARACTER** **DEVELOPMENT and COMPLIMENTS DISGUISED AS INSULTS**

 **chibi-no-baka:** I hope you liked this chapter then! I finally decided to give the TsukiMika ship a go, so hopefully it only gets better from here ;) Trust me, if she doesn't get Saeko's number now, Saeko will steal it from Tanaka ;) Thank you so much for your review!

 **Zoreux:** THAT'S COMPLETELY UNDERSTANDABLE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEWWWW :D

 **AmIValid2:** There's no pressure for you to review, although I very much appreciate it when you do! Thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying the story! :D

 **HTMLfreak:** I'm a sucker for the stubborn ones, it makes for good stories ;) Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did, then! Don't worry, I'm planning a Tsukishima POV in the near future :) Thank you so much! Thank you for your review! :D

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** That's gonna be a good one ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Thistle-Chan:** Saeko's such a lovely, underrated character. I'm not sure if you've read ahead into the manga but I love the role she plays in their future games. She's so supportive. I'm glad you think I'm writing her well :) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Daughter of the Oceans:** THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D

 **hannymae:** TRUST ME IT WON'T BE ONE-SIDED MUCH LONGER! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ENTHUSIASM AND YOUR REVIEW! :D

 **Kitty:** Confessions will come, don't worry ;) Yes, I do my best to update once a week! I've been very consistent so far. Thank you for your review! :)

 **jily shiper:** Ugh you're the best, thank you for your support, girl you don't realize how amazing you are, thank youuuuu :D

 **Sayori1412:** I feel the same way, I know the outcome of these matches but it still gives me anxiety to read them / rewrite them sometimes XD I hope you liked this chapter! Sure, some interactions will be awkward, but others won't be. We'll see. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Megan VR:** I'm so glad you're enjoying this story, thank you! Thank you for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** Thank you! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Guest:** AHA I PUT THAT IN SUBTLE-LY I DIDN'T KNOW IF ANYONE WOULD CATCH IT ! No they actually haven't exchanged numbers yet lol these two dorks are both too stubborn to ask each other first. Yes I'm caught up in the manga and that part is exactly what I was picturing when I wrote that scene! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story, thank you so much for your support ! :D

 **WOW. Thank you so much for all of your enthusiasm and support for this story and this ship! I was hesitating going through with this ship because I wanted to focus on Mikaela's development, but Tsukishima's a part of her journey and her development, so I went for it, and your support has blown me away. THANK YOU. Thank you guys so much.**

 **Until next week!~**


	34. The Train

**Thank you so much to Anne Nonimus, Sayori1412, jily shiper, Kitty, HANNYMAE RETURNS, Swaggishima, Frenchie Is French, Naliyu, Shadow Wolf 15846, limyuna0, Daniela8Ottavia, dell'Artemisia, Dele124, Fic-for-day, alxnnxh, BlancHibue, olivia. rodgriguez. 927, musicmuse20, Sang618, SeaJay313, and Biankia for your wonderful support :)**

* * *

Karasuno won.

The points dragged on and on, and there were so many moments where Mikaela wasn't sure how the game would go, because it just went back and forth and back and forth. Finally, Hinata nailed a back attack, and the volleyball bounced off the receiver's arm and flew to the back of the gym. Karasuno managed to take the fifth set, 21 - 19.

Mikaela screamed out loud and clapped a hand over her mouth as soon as she could, sinking into the railing. A hand on her shoulder steadied her, but Saeko seemed as frantic as she felt. Desperate for some sort of stability, Mikaela grabbed at Saeko and the blonde woman pulled her in for a hug.

"They won!" People were yelling, either in ecstasy or disbelief. Mikaela squeezed her arms around Saeko and then let go, steadying herself against the railing.

 _They won. They did it._

The players were hugging each other on the court, and Mikaela watched happily as the third years all collapsed in a group hug with tears running down their faces. Her seniors deserved this; they worked so hard and endured so much. This was amazing. She watched with glee as Tsukishima was tackled by Yamaguchi and Hinata latched onto Kageyama. The entire Karasuno team was a screaming, crying mess.

"I've got to go," she called, turning to Saeko. "I have a train to catch."

Saeko pulled her in for one last hug, then released her only to pull out her phone. "Wait, give me your number. I want updates on this boy issue."

"Seriously?!"

"Of course! If you need any help or an outside opinion, you can always talk to me," she said generously, holding her phone out to the manager.

Mikaela blinked, grateful, and thumbed her number into the keypad. "T- Thank you, Tanaka-san."

"Saeko! Just Saeko is fine." She clapped her on the shoulder. "I'll call you Kaisha-chan."

She laughed. "That sounds great! Thanks, Saeko."

Mikaela waved goodbye to her fellow Karasuno spectators and ran to the stairs, dodging past a few people that were leaving the game and turning towards the gym entrance. She shifted past a few people blocking the entrance, just in time to see the Karasuno team slowly migrating towards the door. To no one's surprise, she propelled herself at Kageyama and practically tackled him in a hug.

"You won," she mumbled into his shoulder.

"We did," he replied, letting her go. Mikaela felt something bloom in her chest when she saw how genuinely happy her cousin looked. Her grin widened as she was about to hug him again when someone tackled her side.

She gasped, trying to catch her breath. "Sh- Shoyo!"

"Kaisha! We won! _We won!_ We won!"

"Yeah, you did!" Mikaela said with a laugh, twisting so she could hug Hinata back. He let go of her and grinned with a smile that looked like it was sponsored by the sun, then took off to go see his two middle school friends that had come to see the game. Someone called her name and she turned again, smiling so hard that her face was cramping up. "Yams!"

"Kaela!" They hugged briefly before Yamaguchi pulled back, his face red and his smile wide. "We did it!"

She laughed and ruffled his hair. "Your serves were fantastic!"

He beamed and turned to talk to the coach, and Mikaela realized her eyes were searching for the only other first year she hadn't seen yet. When she finally picked him out of the crowd of people, she slipped past some of the other players until she was next to him.

Tsukishima frowned as she stopped in front of him. "What?"

"Good- good game," Mikaela said, nearly tripping over her own tongue. Whatever bravado she had conjured up all of five or ten minutes ago was nearly gone.

He shrugged, looking away. "Not really. I only managed to stuff Ushijima once, and-"

"Hey." Mikaela frowned, crossing her arms. "You were amazing. Just because you didn't stuff him doesn't mean what you did was useless."

"I know that," he snapped, glaring at her.

"Do you?" she said with a roll of her eyes. "You played well, even with a dislocated finger. That was awesome."

Mikaela bit her tongue before she could awkwardly blurt out any more compliments. _If he's not going to bring up the cheek kiss from earlier, then I won't mention it either._ Her thoughts were interrupted by Tsukishima clearing his throat. "So, your surgery?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I've gotta leave soon. Can't miss the train." He nodded at her, and started turning away like he expected her to leave, but Mikaela wasn't done. "Tsukishima, wait. You and Yamaguchi will come down and visit, right?"

He shrugged. "Yamaguchi will probably drag me along with him, yes."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, that's fine. Uh, text me when you guys are coming. I'll text you the visiting hours or whatever."

"I don't have your number," Tsukishima pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Mikaela resisted the temptation to whip her phone out and throw it at him. "W- Well, I've got to get going. Get my number from Yamaguchi."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Because otherwise, I'll get _your_ number from him, and trust me, I _will_ prank call you."

"Fair enough." He sighed and met her eyes, and Mikaela was surprised to see that his smirk had faded into something softer. "Alright, I'll text you."

"Promise?" she teased, grinning.

"What are we, twelve?"

"On a scale of one to ten," Mikaela retorted with a laugh, remembering Oikawa's comeback yesterday. _Oikawa. Shit, I need to go._ "I should get going," she admitted, jamming her hands into her pockets. "Text me?"

"I'll think about it," he agreed, rolling his eyes. Tsukishima's voice lowered. "I hope it goes well," he murmured.

She beamed. "I'm sure it will."

"Hey, Kaisha!" Frowning, Mikaela turned to see Saeko, who had wrestled her brother into a hug (or maybe it was a headlock?). She flashed her a thumbs up. "Get it, girl!"

If Mikaela hadn't been cherry red before, she certainly was now. "Gotta go," she mumbled to Tsukishima. Mikaela turned to face the Karasuno team. "Good game!" she practically yelled, bowing to the group. "I've get going- got to get going- surgery, train to catch, you know how it is-" she bumped in Sugawara as she was trying to nudge past the group and nearly knocked him over. "Sorry! Sorry, great game, you all were fantastic, make sure you get lots of rest-"

By now, she was babbling, and Tsukishima was shooting her a dirty look (probably for embarrassing the both of them) but she was just trying to get out of the way. She had a train to catch, and she didn't want to make Oikawa and Iwaizumi wait too long. She was about to ramble out some more apologies and goodbyes of sorts when she ran head-first into someone else.

"Sorry-" she started.

"You!"

Mikaela blinked in confusion, then looked up to see who she bumped into. To her surprise, she was staring into the eyes of the red-haired guess blocker from Shiratorizawa, Tendō Satori. "Me?" she said dumbly. Her gaze flickered to Ushijima, who was standing behind Tendō with a disinterested look on his face.

"You're the twin!" His finger jumped from pointing at her face to pointing accusingly at Kageyama.

She sighed; they'd gotten this a lot since they started showing up to tournaments together. "No, not really-"

"You're the one that can't play volleyball anymore!"

Her throat went dry. _"Excuse me?"_

Unfortunately, the rest of the Karasuno team were very much still in earshot, and any conversations that were flying between them had been dropped. Tendō nodded vigorously, pointing a hand at Kageyama and the other at Ushijima. "When I was taunting him, your twin-" ("Not my twin," she muttered) "-said something like the only way he'd ever despair was if he couldn't play volleyball, and then he looked at you!" Before she could even protest, Tendō flipped over to Ushijima. "So I asked Miracle Man over here whether he knew you, and he said he'd seen you play in Junior High! But you're not playing now! So-"

"If you don't shut your mouth right now," Mikaela snarled, stepping towards him, "I will fucking _deck_ you."

The silence that followed was interrupted by Suga's "you tell him, Mikaela," and Daichi hushed him right afterwards. Tendō looked so taken aback that he glanced at Ushijima for help, but the super ace simply shrugged.

"Kaisha." Kageyama came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You should get going."

"Can I punch him first?"

"No."

"Please?"

 _"Mikaela."_

"Fine, fine." She glared one last time at Tendō, then nodded respectfully to Ushijima. "Well played game," she said politely, and he nodded in return. Mikaela turned quickly to Kageyama and grabbed him in a tight hug. "Thank you," Mikaela murmured before letting go of him. He nodded. Before she could storm off, she turned her head sharply, whipping her ponytail over her shoulder. "I better see all of you at least once in the next week," she threatened.

There was a chorus of, "yes, ma'am" from a mildly terrified Karasuno volleyball team. Satisfied, Mikaela grinned and turned, ready to leave, and nearly ran face-first into someone. "Sorry-" she started, but once she saw who it was, she groaned.

"Mika-chan! Are we heading out or what?"

Oikawa paused as he entered the gathering of well over a dozen people that he wasn't fond of. He waved cheerily to Kageyama, who glared in return, but wrinkled his nose when his eyes landed on Ushijima. "Yeah, Oikawa, let's go," Mikaela said quickly, seizing his arm in an attempt to drag him away from a possible conversation.

"What're _you_ doing here?" the setter asked sharply, glaring at Ushijima.

The Shiratorizawa ace raised his eyebrows. "I just played a game?"

Oikawa scowled. "No, what are you doing _here?_ Among these crows?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied, never breaking eye contact.

"I'm taking Mika-chan down to the train station," Oikawa said sharply, puffing out his chest slightly. Mikaela resisted the urge to slap herself in the forehead. "You know, protect her from all the creepy men on the streets."

"Who's going to protect me from your fangirls?" Mikaela grumbled.

Tendō snorted. "I'm pretty sure it's going to be her protecting you, buddy." Oikawa looked like he was about to retort, but Tendō waved a finger at him and cut him off. "She just threatened to punch me and you know what? I believe it. The lot of you are monsters, and your manager is no exception."

She blinked. "Thanks?"

He shrugged. "All you first years are crazy."

 _I really have no idea how to respond to that._ "We should go," Mikaela said quickly before Oikawa could say anything else.

"But I need to protect my fragile masculinity!" the setter whined as she tugged him away.

She rolled her eyes. "'Fragile' is right. Come on, idiot."

"Mika-chan, you're so cruel-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, come on."

Mikaela waved goodbye to her team for what felt like the hundredth time, then proceeded to drag Oikawa towards the exit to the building. Iwaizumi was waiting there, and after harassing Oikawa for taking so long, the trio set off. Her train left at two, and the walk was about twenty minutes, so she thought they'd be okay for time.

Then she made the mistake of trying to talk about all the shit that had gone down in her life over the past two months.

Although Oikawa and Iwaizumi both asked and wanted to know what had happened, and they were both good listeners, Oikawa had a bad habit of interjecting his thoughts into almost every available spot in the conversation. Iwaizumi was good, but sometimes he didn't say anything at all, and Mikaela had no idea what he was thinking. She'd started with how her father had passed away, and as soon as she got to the part where her mother had hit her, her tongue dried in her throat.

"I don't see what this has to do with Tsukishima's older brother," Oikawa said, using her silence to interrupt with his own thoughts.

Mikaela shrugged. "It's all connected."

Iwaizumi huffed. "Oikawa, if you'd let her finish, I'm sure she'd get to that part."

"I will, I will. Promise me you won't freak out," she added.

"Why would we freak out?" the setter asked.

"Just promise me."

Oikawa pouted. "Fine, but this better be good, Mika-chan."

She laughed awkwardly. "Well, it's not _good,_ I guess, but it's quite the story." She exhaled slowly and nearly stumbled over her own feet. Iwaizumi steadied her and they resumed their pace. "Well... I ran away from home."

"You _what?!"_ they chorused in unison.

"I've been rotating between living at Kageyama's house and living at Tsukishima's house," Mikaela admitted, and when she saw the dumbfounded look on her seniors' faces, she sighed. "Look, I'm not happy about it. I feel like a leech. I really wish I didn't have to stay at Tsukishima's every now and then but I can't let Kageyama's parents find out that I'm living at his place, we've kept it hidden pretty well but it's already been almost two months-"

 _"Two months?!"_ Iwaizumi choked out.

"Hang on, why the _hell_ would you not be at home?" Oikawa interjected, grabbing Mikaela's shoulder and slowing their walk to a halt. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

Mikaela quirked an eyebrow. "Oikawa, the train leaves in twenty minutes. We've got to keep walking."

With a displeased grunt, Oikawa released her shoulder and started walking again, but he and Iwaizumi made sure to keep Mikaela between the both of them. They were both staring at her now with matching expressions of disbelief. "So? What happened?" Oikawa pressed.

"My..." she trailed off. "My home wasn't safe anymore," Mikaela finished, her voice nearly cracking on the last word. _God dammit, keep it together._ "My mother was getting abusive, so I took off."

They walked in a heavy silence until Oikawa muttered, "I always knew she was a no-good, lying-" Iwaizumi punched him in the shoulder. "Ow! Just the truth!"

"You're not wrong," Mikaela chuckled dryly. "I mean, when she knew that Dad was in the hospital for at least a few days but didn't tell me about it until he had passed away." She pursed her lips and blinked twice as she felt heat behind her eyes. "But she, uh, sort of yelled at me a lot, and I yelled a lot, and..." Mikaela trailed off, because if she kept going she was going to cry, and she really didn't want to cry in front of two guys that she admired. "So I left," she finished lamely.

They walked in silence. _Are they judging me? They're totally judging me. Holy shit, I shouldn't have said anything-_

"Stop," Oikawa said suddenly, halting.

Mikaela scowled to herself but didn't turn around. She kept walking. "Oikawa, we don't have time-"

Someone grabbed onto her elbow. Mikaela spun around to see Iwaizumi frowning at her. "Hey," he said softly, and Mikaela's defenses cracked. "Come here." Iwaizumi held out his arms, and after a moment of glaring at him, Mikaela fell into his hug with a sigh, tears pricking her eyes.

"Group hug!~" Oikawa chirped, moving around to behind Mikaela and wrapping his arms around her and Iwaizumi.

"I hate you both," Mikaela mumbled into Iwaizumi's chest.

"Love you too, Mika-chan," Oikawa replied. He and Iwaizumi pulled back and Mikaela wiped at her eyes quickly. "Let's get going! You'll miss your train!"

"That's literally what I was just saying."

"Doesn't matter unless I say it."

"Idiot, come on, let's go."

To her surprise, they made it to the train station with a few minutes to spare. After several more hugs and several more complaints, Mikaela finally managed to figure out what train was hers and hopped on with seconds to spare. The trip was long, and as tempted as she was to take a nap, she'd promised her mother that she'd check in as soon as she got on the train.

She opened her phone and her jaw dropped. Ten new messages? What the heck?

 ** _Kageyama Monomi (13:31):_** _Don't be late._

Mikaela groaned and typed back a quick, 'I won't be, on the train now' before moving on.

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (13:33):_** _I'm taking a later train but I'll be there by 10 tonight_

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (13:34):_** _Hope it goes well_

She suppressed a smile and typed out her response, making sure that Kageyama knew he was to celebrate with the team and _then_ come down. She wasn't the priority at the moment for him. Her fourth text was from Saeko, which was just to make sure she had her number, and Mikaela quickly saved it to her phone. Saeko had good intentions (albeit she was a bit bold with her plans) and Mikaela knew she had her heart in the right place.

 _ **Kuroo Tetsuro (13:39):**_ _Text me when your train gets in. My grandfather's gonna drive us to the hospital._

Mikaela frowned at her phone and typed out her reply.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (14:03):** Train's supposed to get in at 3. Thanks again._

The next texts nearly made her tear up. There were four texts- one each from Hinata, Yamaguchi, Yachi, and Shimizu, all wishing her luck with the surgery and to text them when it was done. She replied to each one of them with a silly grin on her face. Back in Niiyama, she hadn't made an effort to try and get close with any of the girls on the team, and only now did she realize what she had missed out on. People were pretty nice when you gave them a chance.

The last message was from an unknown number, and despite not leaving a name, Mikaela knew who it was as soon as she read the text.

 _ **Unknown (13:53):**_ _Yamaguchi gave me your number. We'll come down on Monday night._

She beamed and texted back.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (14:07):**_ _Thanks, Tsukishima, see you then!_

She couldn't even suppress her grin anymore. This team and these people were more than she ever could've asked for.

* * *

Tsukishima was done. He had reached a level beyond 'exhausted' and he was ready for a good nap on the bus. The awards ceremony droned on and he struggled to keep his head up throughout, but Yamaguchi was kicking the back of his calves in an effort to keep him awake. He nodded his way through the closing remarks and joined the rest of the team on the walk to the bus. He stayed at the back of the group, walking next to Yamaguchi, who was still smiling.

"Um, hey- hey! Excuse me."

Tsukishima turned around and arched an eyebrow. "What?"

The blonde girl from the nurse's room- what was her name? Kinomi?- was standing in front of him and trying to look menacing, but she was significantly shorter than him (shorter than Mikaela, actually) and she had one of her arms in a makeshift cast so she couldn't even cross her arms properly.

Kinomi frowned at him. "Where's Mikaela?"

"Left already," he replied, turning around again.

"She left? Where- wait!" She seized his arm with her free hand and pulled him back. "Where did she-"

"Don't touch me," Tsukishima said with a scowl, tearing his arm from her grip. "Where she went is none of your business."

"Can I have her number?" Kinomi asked quickly.

There was a pause, and the silence was broken by Yamaguchi saying quietly, "sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Kinomi Asui, I'm on the Niiyama volleyball team." The blonde girl turned back to Tsukishima and pinched her lips together. "Look, I just want to know what happened to her and why she doesn't play volleyball anymore."

Tsukishima snorted. "Really? I thought you were going to ask her out."

"Wow, you're so funny. Just give me her number."

"No."

Her jaw dropped. "What? Why not? It's not that hard!"

"You're annoying," Tsukishima stated, his eyes flitting to Yamaguchi for a brief second. "Besides, from what I saw, you two aren't on good terms. I doubt she'd want to talk to you anyways."

"Well... not exactly." Kinomi huffed and settled her free hand on her hip. "Look, when we were at Niiyama, I hated her." Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Wait, let me finish. We were rivals. Her school team had beat mine in the Junior finals, and now we were on the same high school team, competing for one starting spot on the roster, and she totally would've got it if she'd stuck around." She sighed. "She's not my rival anymore. She's at a completely different school. So unless this all turns around and she comes back to Niiyama to play volleyball, I don't see why I can't try and be civil with her."

Tsukishima's stomach knotted itself when she mentioned Mikaela going back to Niiyama. It wouldn't happen, obviously. Right?

His blood went cold. Would she leave Karasuno and go back to Niiyama if the surgery worked?

"Kaela sure holds grudges," Yamaguchi said with a weak chuckle. He cast a glance over his shoulder at the rest of the Karasuno team. "Look, we have to get going, but if you want, give us your number and we'll pass it on to her. If she feels like it, she can contact you."

Kinomi shrugged. "I guess that's the best I could ask for." Yamaguchi pulled out his phone and handed it to her, and she thumbed in the number with her free hand. "Thanks, I guess."

"No problem," Yamaguchi said with a grin. "See you around."

Kinomi nodded, shot Tsukishima a hard glare, then turned on her heel and walked away. The pair turned together and jogged to catch up with the rest of the team. Tsukishima tried his best to banish the anxious thoughts from his head, but they wouldn't leave.

"Yamaguchi," he said suddenly.

He hummed in response. "Yeah, Tsukki?"

"If the surgery goes as planned, do you think she'll leave?"

"What?"

Tsukishima stopped in his tracks and met Yamaguchi's eyes. "Mikaela. She's as volleyball-obsessed as her crazy cousin, isn't she? Why wouldn't she go back to the top school in the country to play volleyball?"

Yamaguchi was quiet for a minute before he replied, "I don't know."

Neither did he.

* * *

 **What's up y'all? I originally wanted to get to the start of the surgery in this chapter but I'll just do that in the next chapter. Next update will be early because I will be camping next weekend!**

 **Anne Nonimus:** I'm glad you're enjoying this! Thank you so much for your kind review(s)! :D

 **Sayori1412:** Aha I'm so glad you liked it! A risky move on Mikaela's part but I think it paid off xD Thank you kindly for your review! :)

 **Frenchie Is French:** I know right?! I could never...Blushing Tsukishima is a good Tsukishima ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **HANNYMAE RETURNS:** YOU KNOW WHAT I WAS READY TO DROP KINOMI LIKE A ROCK AND JUST HAVE HER BE AN ANTAGONIST BUT YOU INSPIRED ME TO MAYBE TRY A DIFFERENT ROUTE FOR HER SO THE LAST BIT OF THIS CHAPTER IS BECAUSE OF YOU! THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEW AND I SHALL JOIN YOU IN FRANTICALLY PADDLING THE TSUKIMIKA SHIP! :D

 **Kitty:** I'm a little bit confused... team finds out about what? If Niiyama finds out why Mikaela left? You're right, obviously tension would be high and I'm not sure how that would play out... it's a tricky situation all around with way too many people involved. Thank you for your review(s)! :)

 **Naliyu:** A lot of people are curious about Kinomi and I was just tossing her in there as an antagonist xD You reviewers that are so interested in Kinomi have inspired me to pull more out of her and see where I can go with her character, hence the last scene in this chapter :) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** Aha I don't memorize the games (that'd be cool), I reread the manga as I write. The only problem is that sometimes I get caught up reading it and forget to write XD Another quite TsukiMika scene in this chapter but I promise when they go down to visit Mikaela it'll get good ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **jily shiper:** I shall also go down with this ship, and SAME I actually read the manga and when Yachi comes in I'm like "wait what are you doing here" and then I remember XD Thank you for your review, much love :D

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you! :D


	35. The Surgery

**Thank you so much to Sayori1412, Shadow Wolf 15846, Swaggishima, AmIValid2, jily shiper, Anne Nominus, Kitty, hannymae, Miovine (you're so kind, thank you!), Frenchie Is French, Feathershade (thank you so much!), Ha. Derp, Juweria, HeliosKing24, Kai019, suzuran-no-rin, Anixley, Assenavira, MeganeAlpaca, Aominewolf, Yannice Yang, Zuzulia, mirasol. yellow, Bickslow, and Dream-Eater Lotus for your support! Thank you! :D**

* * *

Mikaela was too nervous to sleep on the train. After responding to every single one of her texts, it finally started to sink into her that she was about to have surgery done to her legs. She was about to be _fixed._

When she stumbled off the train, she didn't realize how distracted she was until she was navigating through the crowd and walked right past Kuroo without noticing him. Thankfully, he grabbed her shoulder. "Oi, I'm your ride."

"Kuroo! Oh, hi," Mikaela stammered, staring up at the devilish man who was going to be taking her to the hospital.

He cocked an eyebrow. "You good?"

"Fine. Where's your grandfather?"

Kuroo let it drop and guided her out of the crowded Tokyo train station and towards the parking lot. They were quiet the whole way there- kind of hard to talk when you can barely hear anything around you- but when they reached the car, Mikaela murmured a quick thank you. Kuroo rolled his eyes (she'd lost count of how many times she'd thanked him) and told her she should get in on the left side. She did, and he moved to sit next to her on the right.

Kuroo's grandfather was quite kind. She thanked him repeatedly for the ride and he shushed her, saying it was his pleasure. Apparently, Kuroo had told him she was going to visit someone, but he didn't ask questions and he let the two of them chat. Kuroo asked about the Shiratorizawa game, and Mikaela was quick to talk about all her favourite parts. Five full sets meant there was a lot to talk about.

"You should've seen Kageyama," she said with a laugh. "He was on fire the entire time. Coach took him out in the fifth set for a bit so he could rest, and his first point back on, he did a two-touch point with Hinata."

"That doesn't surprise me," Kuroo said with a shake of his head. "Those two are nuts."

She nodded. "Yep! Hinata actually managed to tap the ball with his left hand when Kageyama messed up a set-"

"Wait, that actually happens?"

"He was tired, shush. But yeah! That was point that won them set four!"

"You're kidding," he said in disbelief. Mikaela shook her head. "Huh. How was Tsukishima?"

"Amazing! You should've seen him!" Mikaela said eagerly, gesturing widely with her arms. "Tsukishima _roofed_ Ushijima! He did the thing that you do, he left a little bit of space and when Ushijima went to spike, he moved!"

"He roofed him?" Kuroo said, surprised.

She nodded vigorously. "Yeah! He got the set point in the second set!"

He grinned. "What is it with you ridiculous first years getting the set point with these crazy stunts? How's that fair?"

"He dislocated his pinky finger in the fifth set," Mikaela added, and when Kuroo stiffened, she quickly said, "he was fine, he came back in a few points later. You know, grumpy like usual. But honestly?" She sighed dreamily and sunk back into the car seat. "He's changed so much. You should've seen how happy he looked when he roofed Ushijima. And he did that delayed spike I suggested that he try, and he coordinated all of the blockers to work with Nishinoya, and..." Mikaela broke off and grinned. "It was amazing," she finished with a smile on her face.

"Really now?"

She turned to Kuroo. The Nekoma captain had a shit-eating grin on his face. "What?" she asked, frowning.

"You sound _reeeeeally_ happy about Tsukishima," Kuroo taunted, smirking at her, "like, more than the average person should be happy about Tsukishima."

"What? No I don't," Mikaela denied, but as soon as she said it, she knew she was screwed. _Crap, I said that way too quickly._ It got worse when Kuroo leaned towards her, his grin widening, and Mikaela felt her cheeks heat up. "What?! I don't!"

"Someone's got a crush!~" Kuroo sang, and Mikaela's face went cherry red. "How adorable!"

"No I don't!" she squeaked, hiding her face in her hands. "No!"

"So does he like you back?"

 _"I don't like him!"_

"Yeah, sweetheart, you and I both know that's not true." Kuroo clicked his tongue. "So? Does he?"

Mikaela glared at him. "Do _not_ call me sweetheart."

"Tetsurō!" Kuroo's grandfather scolded suddenly, and both teenagers flinched. "Leave the poor girl alone! How'd you like it if we discussed your love life, right here and now?"

"Grandpa!" the middle blocker whined, his cocky smirk vanishing immediately. "I don't have a love life!"

His grandfather shrugged. "That's not what Kozume tells me."

Kuroo's eyes bugged out of his head. _"Kenma_ talks to you?!"

"Oh look!" Mikaela said quickly, desperate to drop the awkward topic. "We're here!"

She'd never seen the Tokyo Takanawa Hospital before, but she recognized it from the pictures she'd searched up on the internet. The building was huge, and there was a large overhanging section over the entrance. Large, blue-tinted windows were the biggest touch of colour that the hospital had to offer.

The realization sunk in again. _Shit._ "We're here," she repeated softly, her eyes trained on the hospital as Kuroo's grandfather parked the car.

"Drive home without me, Grandpa, I'll walk home." Mikaela's head whipped around fast enough to tear her head off, but Kuroo was unfazed. His grandfather frowned at him but Kuroo shrugged. "Seriously, Grandpa, I'll be fine."

"Alright," he agreed. He smiled wearily at Mikaela. "Hope your visit goes alright, dear. Will you need a ride afterwards?"

"No, I'll be fine," she said, forcing a smile on her face. She bowed awkwardly. "I can't thank you enough."

"Anytime. It's a thank you for putting up with my dumb grandson."

"Hey!"

Soon enough, they were out of the car and he was gone, leaving Mikaela and Kuroo standing by the entrance to the hospital. Mikaela tucked her hands into her jacket pockets so Kuroo wouldn't see her shaking. "You should've just gone back with your grandfather," she said, refusing to look at him.

"I ain't leaving you alone."

"I'll be fine. You should go."

"Nope."

Mikaela bit her lip and tried one last time. _"Please?"_

He shook his head. "I get it, we don't know each other that well, and we're not that close, but..." Kuroo exhaled, huffing and blowing some of the hair that had fallen into his face out of the way. "Kid, I'm not letting you do this alone."

"You're not 'letting' me do anything," Mikaela said, finally turning to glare at the Nekoma captain. "Look, it's not a big deal, you should just-"

"You can't shut everyone out just because it's convenient for you."

Her mouth dried. "That's- that's not what I'm doing!"

"Really?" Kuroo taunted, but this time there was no smirk on his face. Mikaela stepped backwards and hunched in on herself, trying to hold his glare. "You were ready to walk to the hospital if it meant not having to tell me your secret," he said coldly. "I'm completely positive that Kageyama would be here if you hadn't insisted he stay back with the team. There's nothing wrong with having a prosthetic leg, it's just easier for you to shut people out and not talk about it."

"Kuroo, just-"

"Mikaela, you're shaking."

She paused, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.

"You've been shaking since you got off the train. Don't pretend you're not scared of this."

"Okay, fine!" Mikaela pulled her hands out of her pockets and threw them in the air in frustration. She yelled, "What do you want me to say? That I'm fucking terrified? Because there's a chance that this could go wrong and I'd be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life? Okay, fine, I'm fucking scared, who wouldn't be? It's fucking _surgery,_ Kuroo, I think I'm allowed to be a bit scared!"

Kuroo shrugged. "Of course you're allowed to be scared. Just... let yourself be scared in front of other people sometimes."

Mikaela wanted to yell. She wanted to scream at him that _no,_ she couldn't be scared in front of people because being scared meant that you were weak, and she couldn't be weak, because her mother was never weak, and she couldn't be weak or else her mother would walk all over her, and if you show even a hint of niceness to people they'll walk all over you too-

She blinked.

 _Oh, shit. I'm just like my mother._

"Shit," she mumbled, feeling tears prick the back of her eyes. Mikaela blinked rapidly and wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "Shit, I'm just like my mom."

Kuroo cocked an eyebrow. "That a good thing or bad thing?"

She snorted. "Bad thing."

He hummed in response. There was an awkward silence as Mikaela digested this newfound information and tried to find all the tiny details that could prove to herself that she was better than her mother, that she was more human and more vulnerable, but after so long living in a toxic household, Mikaela had forgotten how to be weak.

No, she hadn't. She'd been weak before. In front of Kageyama when she was opening up about her mom. In front of Yamaguchi, outside of her house. Hell, even in front of Tsukishima, the first night at his house where she'd fallen asleep against his shoulder.

She was better than her mother.

 _I'm better than my mother._

And even if that was a lie, and she really wasn't any better than her stone-hearted mother, Mikaela knew she had no choice but to try and be better. She could be.

 _I can do this._

"So..." Kuroo trailed off. "You done whining yet? Ready to go?"

Mikaela groaned. "I hate you."

"You've got a weird way of saying thank you. Is that a Karasuno thing?"

"No, I just hate you."

"You're welcome, Temper-san."

She snapped her head towards him and her ponytail whipped her in the face. Her mouth opened, then closed again. Kuroo tossed her a shit-eating grin, because he knew he'd won whatever the hell they'd been arguing about and he knew that she was okay now.

"Yeah, I hate you."

"Hate you too. Ready?"

"Nope," Mikaela replied, stepping towards the doors. The automatic doors slid open for her and Kuroo and they walked inside. The main lobby was huge, with two escalators on the far side of the room for the next floor. The lobby was bustling with people: some were playing on their phones, waiting, others were glancing anxiously at the clock on the wall for whenever their appointment would happen, and some were whispering to each other and constantly glancing at the far doors.

The front desk had three people sitting behind it, each at their own separate computer. One of the hospital clerks was occupied, so Mikaela skittered over to one of the free clerks. Kuroo slid up behind her, waiting.

"How can I help you, miss?" the man behind the desk said pleasantly, looking up from his computer.

Mikaela was about to say that she had an appointment, but her tongue clogged her throat and suddenly it felt like she couldn't breathe. She was trying to figure out how the hell she could get some oxygen going to her brain when Kuroo stepped in. "She has an appointment," he said, glancing at her briefly. She shot him a weak thumbs up.

He smiled. "What's your name?"

"M- Mikaela Kaisha."

"And who is your appointment with?"

She clumsily grabbed at her phone and opened it, sliding through her messages with her mother until she found the text with all of the information. "Doctor Sukiyaki?" she said hesitantly.

"Sukiyaki-san?" the man said with a frown. "He said he was booked for today with one appointment. It's a big one too, so perhaps you were scheduled for a different day?"

"Nope, that'd be me," Mikaela said, feeling a bit more confident now that she knew she was in the right place and had the right doctor. "My, uh, mother made the appointment? Kageyama Monomi?"

One of the other hospital clerks, a petite woman with pin-straight black hair, glanced up at her. Her eyes were narrowed behind her glasses. "Kageyama Monomi? I spoke with her on the phone." She said it in a way that made it sound like it wasn't pleasant. "Yes, she made that appointment with Sukiyaki-san. You're here for a surgery?"

 _God, this is actually happening._

"Yes, I am."

"Your appointment was for 3:15, so you have... five minutes," she said, her eyes flitting to Kuroo and then back to her. "Go take a seat, I'll let Sukiyaki-san know his appointment is here and we'll get you started right away."

"Thanks," Mikaela said quietly, and she turned towards the area filled with chairs. She found two unoccupied seats and sat herself down, crossing her arms and trying to stay calm. _Holy shit, I've got five minutes-_

Kuroo plopped himself down next to her and whistled quietly, leaning back in his seat. "Well, your mom certainly left quite the impression."

Mikaela, despite herself, grinned. "Did you see the look on her face when I mentioned her name?"

"It looked like she'd swallowed something sour," he joked. "Your mom sounds... fierce."

"Oh, she's horrible," Mikaela said, and Kuroo raised an eyebrow at her like he couldn't tell if she was joking or not. "No, she's literally the worst. Like, I ran away from home because she's that bad."

Kuroo sat up. "You ran away from home?"

"Yep." She shrugged. "Hey, just a few minutes ago you were saying we don't know each other that well. Maybe... Maybe this is where that changes." She offered him a smile, trying to make it as genuine as possible.

"Well, my life is horrible exciting," Kuroo said with a grin. "You'll be in awe with all the interesting facts about me."

Mikaela kicked her leg out, indicating her prosthetic. "I think I've got you beat there."

"That doesn't count."

"It _doesn't count-"_

"Didja know this is my natural hair?" He gestured to his explosive hair style.

Her jaw dropped. "You're kidding. How'd you manage that?"

"Pure skill!~"

"There's no way," Mikaela said with a laugh. "So, uh, you live with your grandparents?"

His smile faded and she regretted asking almost immediately. "Yeah. My grandparents and my dad." Kuroo broke eye contact and looked away from her. "My mom died giving birth."

"Oh- Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

Kuroo shrugged. "Eh, I never knew her. She sounds cool though, based on what my dad told me." He swallowed, and Mikaela kept silent because it looked like he wanted to say something else. "Uh, yeah. How about you? You ran away from home, so... you live with your dad? Divorced parents?"

"They're divorced," she confirmed, nodding slowly. She frowned. "They are? They were? I don't know what tense to use." Kuroo looked like he was about to question why her grammar was an issue, so she cut him off. "My dad passed away a few months ago."

"Oh." Kuroo paused awkwardly. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she replied, surprised by how little the subject bothered her now. Sure, she was still upset; it wasn't something she could get over in two months. But every time someone had apologized or offered condolences, she'd nearly broken into tears. Now? She was getting better. Healing, bit by bit. "He was a lot nicer than my mom," she admitted. "They divorced three years ago? Three, I think."

Kuroo hummed in acknowledgement. "So, who do you live with, then?"

She shrugged. "I rotate. Most of the time, I stay with Kageyama because his parents are always out, but the occasional time that they're home, I stay at Tsukishima's place."

As soon as she said it, she regretted it, because Kuroo's eyes widened and a grin split across his face. "Oh ho? You stay with Tsukishima?"

"Not like that, I stay on the couch," Mikaela clarified, her cheeks heating up as she realized what Kuroo was implying.

"So is this how you got so close to Tsukishima then? And this is why you like him?"

"I don't..." She groaned and trailed off. "...Fine, yes, I like him."

Kuroo pumped his fist but abstained from cheering (probably because they were in a hospital). She glared at him, but he just grinned devilishly. "Aw, young love," he said with a sigh, and Mikaela swatted at him. "So, does he like you back?"

"No," she said softly, tucking her knees up to her chest.

He frowned. "Has he told you that?"

"No," she admitted.

"Then how'd you know?"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "It's Tsukishima. I'm not sure he knows what feelings even are." They both laughed, and Mikaela's grin dropped as she remembered Kahano. "Besides, he's been confessed to by girls that are far prettier and nicer than I am, so I don't see why he'd like someone like me."

"Someone like you?" Kuroo snorted. "What's not to like about you?" She was about to interject, surprised that he thought so highly of her, but then he opened his big mouth again and ruined it. "Besides your temper, your stubbornness, your willingness to cut people out..." He ticked these off on his fingers as he went. "You're a pretty big complainer too, and yeah, you are kind of mean-"

"Gee, thanks," Mikaela said with a scowl.

"No, seriously, you called me a _rooster_ when we first met and then didn't apologize."

"What's there to apologize for? You do look like a rooster."

"See? This is what I mean. You're cruel."

Mikaela sighed. "Yeah, I know. So why would he bother with me?" She huffed and broke eye contact with him, glaring at the floor. "Besides, I don't want to ruin our friendship. The fact we're even friends means a lot to me."

The last part came out quieter than she intended, but Kuroo caught it anyways. "Oh, kiddo," he murmured, ruffling her hair.

"Don't call me kiddo," she protested weakly, knocking his hand away. "It's fine. I'm totally content to suffer with my feelings."

"Is he coming up to see you at all?" Kuroo asked.

She shrugged. "He said he would, but honestly? If he does come, he'll be dragged by Yamaguchi. He's got better stuff to do."

"You're such a pessimist," he protested, glaring at her. "How do you-"

"Mikaela-san?"

They both jerked their heads up to a young woman standing at the front of the lobby with a clipboard. Mikaela awkwardly raised her hand.

The woman seemed taken aback that the person she was looking for was a teenager, and frowned to glance at her sheets. Shrugging, she turned towards her and smiled. "We're ready for you," she said politely. "Right this way."

Mikaela and Kuroo stood up in unison, and Mikaela turned to face the middle blocker. "Thank you," she said quietly. "For everything."

He shrugged. "Anytime, Temper-san. Stay strong, okay?"

"Always," she joked with false enthusiasm. He grinned, ruffled her hair one last time, then took long strides towards the doors. Mikaela shuffled up to the woman who had called her name. "Thank you," she murmured, forcing a smile onto her face.

The woman beamed at her and started walking towards the far hallway. Mikaela trailed after her, trying to focus on anything other than the clipboard in the lady's hands, which had a large stamp on it that read 'Special Case'. She wondered what kind of strings her mother pulled to get this appointment set up. Mikaela shook her head. _You know what? I don't want to know._

"Right in here," the lady said pleasantly, opening a door. Mikaela didn't even check for a room number or name- she was way too nervous to be focusing on the little details.

The room consisted of a gurney with a white sheet of some sort folded into a pile on top of it, a table at the side that was almost completely cleared off, several cabinets, and two stools, one of which was occupied by a young, black-haired man with square glasses and sharp facial features. When his eyes met hers, he smiled, revealing dimples.

Mikaela's heart flipped in her chest. _Holy crap, he's good-looking._ "Um- uh, Doctor Sukiyaki?" she tried, nearly biting her tongue.

He nodded, adjusting his glasses. "And you must be Mikaela Kaisha. Come take a seat." He turned towards the other woman, who was still waiting by the door. "You can leave us now."

She bowed and closed the door on her way out. Mikaela settled herself down on the other stool, fidgeting anxiously.

"Nervous?" Sukiyaki asked, and Mikaela couldn't find words so she nodded instead. He chuckled. "That's to be expected. This isn't exactly something I do often." Her eyes widened, and he back-tracked quickly. "I meant that you're an unique situation. I'm perfectly capable of handling this, but I can't say I've ever met someone so young who's had to make use of a prosthetic limb, with the exception of those born with deformities."

"Oh," was all she could say.

"Your mother informed me she wasn't going to be making it today, but she said she would check in tomorrow if she was satisfied with the results," he continued, his lips pinching into a frown. "This is a big job, so it'll take a while. We're going to put you under, so you won't feel a thing. Alright?"

Mikaela nodded, her mind blank.

"Any questions for me?"

She'd literally wiped her brain of any remaining thoughts or ideas, so she just shook her head numbly. _I have no idea what I'd ask even if I wanted to ask something._

"Alright. Let's not waste time, then." Sukiyaki clapped his hands together, then motioned towards the folded pile on the stretcher. "That's a hospital gown for you. You can get changed in the bathroom across the hallway, then just come back here. I'm going to get the rest of the doctors. I'll introduce you to them when you return."

All Mikaela could do was nod along and stiffly move towards the door. She nudged it open and stumbled towards the bathroom, nearly going into the men's bathroom by accident. Her eyes were blurry as she pulled her shirt over her head and fumbled her way out of her track pants. Her breathing was becoming more and more shallow, and it was only when she pulled the hospital gown over her head that she realized that it was hard to get air into her lungs.

Suddenly, the bathroom stall felt suffocating. It felt like someone had a hand around her throat and was crushing her windpipe. Mikaela clutched at the collar of the gown and tugged it away from her neck, desperate for any way to breathe, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that no one was strangling her and it wasn't that her gown was too tight.

"Fuck," she mumbled under her breath, sinking to the ground and gathering herself in a crouch. A fucking panic attack. Why now?

 _Christ,_ her chest was collapsing in on her. Her ribs were stabbing at her lungs, her throat was closing up, she was going to _die-_

Inhaling in a desperate attempt to force air into her lungs, Mikaela shuddered and curled in on herself even further, like she was trying to become as small as possible. Her vision was so blurry that it was giving her a headache, so she squeezed her eyes shut. It felt like she was being locked up, like she was being forced into a box but the box had no air and she needed _air_ and she wasn't getting _air_ and...

 _Breathe, you idiot. Breathe._

Mikaela wanted to slap herself. _If only it were that easy._

It took another minute of panic and self-loathing, but eventually Mikaela's breathing started to even out. She unfolded herself, kicking her legs out in front of her so that they poked out from under the stall. She shuddered, goosebumps erupting on her skin. Another ten seconds of deep, labored breaths, and Mikaela felt good enough to stand.

Shakily, she got to her feet, propping herself up using the toilet and the stall walls. "Okay," Mikaela said aloud when she was finally on her feet. She swayed slightly but used the walls for balance. "I'm good," she said to herself. "I'm good."

One more deep exhale, then Mikaela shoved the door open, grabbed her bag of clothing, and stomped out of the bathroom. She was ready for this. She could do this. No problems whatsoever.

One step back into the previous room left her floored.

Four other doctors were there, and when she walked in, they all started eyeing her like she was something to be dissected. Her prosthetic leg was now completely on display, and when the vultures- sorry, doctors- were done eyeing her like a chunk of meat, their eyes flew to her fake leg. One of them actually bent down and crept closer with his hand extended, and Mikaela jerked away.

"Now, now, give her some space," Sukiyaki chided, and the doctor backed off. "Sorry, Mikaela. This is a very interesting situation for all of us, so pardon us if we're a bit..."

 _Nosy?_

Maybe, if she was feeling a bit better and not like she had just been hit by a train, she might've said it. Instead, she just nodded to show Sukiyaki that she understood. "So you're all good?" he asked, and she nodded again. "Wonderful. Then we're ready to start. Just lay down, remove your prosthetic, and we'll attach a gas mask to your face that'll fill with sleeping gas. You won't feel a thing."

"One second," Mikaela said quickly, whipping out her phone and sending one last text. "Alright. I'm good."

 _I'm good._

She lay down on the gurney and detached her prosthetic from her body, which Sukiyaki carefully set aside. One of the female doctors approached her with a clear mask and Mikaela let her put it on.

"This'll be over before you know it," someone said.

Mikaela shut her eyes, and then she was gone.

* * *

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (15:23):**_ _I love you._

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (15:24):_** _I love you too_

* * *

 **UGH why are these chapters just dragging on, and on, and on... UGH I just want to wrap this up already but lo and behold this chapter wrote itself!**

 **I'm trying to update faster because I'm hoping to get this story caught up to where to manga is around now before I go off to post-secondary, because I will have approximately no time. Sigh. Chapters might be more frequent if I can. I plan to have this story as far caught up as I deem necessary by the end of August.**

 **Obviously, I'm not abandoning it- I'll just update it periodically as the manga goes. Thank you guys for your love and patience :)**

 **Due to the lateness of this chapter, I will abstain from responding to reviews- but please know I've read every single one and I appreciate them all!**


	36. The Recovery

**Thank you so much to Ha. Derp, Sayori1412, Swaggishima, Kitty, hannymae, Huohua Duvessa, Anne Nonimus, SabreDagger, Juilettebetrippin, MysticKai, and HuskyLover3 for your support! :D**

* * *

God, the light _hurt._

Her eyelids felt like they were burning. Mikaela made the mistake of trying to open her eyes, and the brightness felt like it was going to burn her corneas. She squeezed her eyes shut again, waiting for the burning to die down. Slowly, she reached her hands around herself to feel for where she was. A bed, most likely. Using her hands, she started propping herself up. The mattress was soft, and she almost didn't want to pull her head off the soft pillow beneath her.

Mikaela finally got herself to a seated position. Blinking slowly, she tried to get her eyes to adjust to the light. Her vision was a haze of blue and white. Everything _ached._ Mikaela pushed her legs out, trying to stretch.

 _Legs._

Her eyes shot open at the sheets in front of her.

 _Where's my leg?!-_

She hadn't even noticed the contraption that was closed over her finger or the cord that connected it to the heart monitor next to the bed, but she noticed it as soon as the beeping started speeding up. Mikaela reached forward towards where her knee was nothing but a stump, but something attached to her wrist dragged a small cart across the floor. Her eyes snapped to her wrist- something was inside her arm, and there was a tube carrying who knows what into her body.

 _Holy shit, holy shit-_

She hadn't thought the monitor could get faster, but it did. Her fingers fumbled with the tube in her arm, then stopped, because somewhere in the back of her mind she knew it must've been there for a reason, but why was it there and what the hell was going on and where was her leg-

"K... Kaisha?"

Mikaela's head snapped to the side and she nearly burst into tears. Kageyama was seated in a small chair beside the hospital bed, his arms crossed and his head drooped. He looked like he had just been asleep.

She tried to say something but her voice came out as a wheeze. Kageyama's eyes fully opened when he realized how crazy the heart monitor was and how panicked she was. "Hey, hey! Kaisha! Hey, look at me, look at me."

"Tobio," she hissed through her teeth, her eyes flickering between her leg and his face, "what? What-"

"Hey." He took her hand in his- the hand that wasn't enclosed by any weird hospital things- and shifted towards her. "Kaisha, you need to calm down. Breathe with me. Breathe."

So she tried. Mikaela inhaled shakily and exhaled just as badly as they listened to the beeping from the heart monitor gradually slow down. As the beeps slowed down, her breathing did too, and Mikaela felt a lot more calm than she was when she woke up. Mikaela glanced around the room, looking for anything that would provide any useful information.

Her memory slowly pieced itself back together, and she nearly threw herself out of the hospital bed. "Did it work?"

Kageyama didn't even hesitate. He grinned. "It did."

Mikaela's eyes flooded with tears, and Kageyama pulled her towards him for a hug. It was a bit awkward due to the tube in her wrist and the thing on her finger, but it was warm and it was safe, and that was all that mattered.

 _It worked._

* * *

"Tsukki, you're too good at this," Yamaguchi complained, his hands falling to his lap as the television screen declared Tsukishima the winner of their video game match. "That's unfair."

He rolled his eyes. "You just suck at anything involving close combat. All you do are ranged attacks."

"They work!"

"Well, obviously not."

Yamaguchi frowned and set the video game controller down on the coffee table, reaching for his phone at the same time. Tsukishima used his controller to head back to the main selection screen, wondering if Yamaguchi wanted to play something else. Before he could ask, Yamaguchi jumped up from his seat and smacked his knee of the coffee table. "Ow!"

"What was that for?" Tsukishima snapped, glaring at the table and then at Yamaguchi. "What-"

"Tsukki, it worked!"

He paused. "What worked?"

"The surgery! Kageyama just texted me- she's awake, the surgery worked, she's fine!"

Tsukishima took a moment to digest the information, and when he did, he grinned. In spite of his frustration with their reckless manager, his annoyance at certain parts of her personality, and his newfound discomfort in the fact that she might move back to Niiyama, he smiled. She'd be walking again without medication. She and Kageyama must be thrilled.

Yamaguchi was more excited than he was, and he showed it by pacing back and forth across the living room. "This is awesome! I mean, I knew it'd work, but there was a chance it wouldn't, you know, it's like that with all surgeries and hospital stuff, and you know, she's our friend, so-"

"Yamaguchi," Tsukishima said with no malice in his tone, "shut up."

"Sorry, Tsukki. When'd you want to go visit her? We could go tomorrow, it's Sunday."

Tsukishima scoffed. "Yamaguchi, we missed so much school for the tournament over the past few days. We've got more homework than we know what to do with, plus lessons we haven't seen yet."

Yamaguchi visibly deflated. "Oh, sorry Tsukki."

"So what are you waiting for?" The blond turned to his best friend. "Book the train tickets."

His grin split across his face, making his freckles pop. "Sure!" Tsukishima leaned back into the couch as Yamaguchi jumped back onto his phone, muttering times and train stations under his breath. He grabbed the remote and shut off the television- it was already late enough, and they needed sleep if they were leaving early tomorrow- and turned back to Yamaguchi as he exclaimed that their train left at 9 am tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

* * *

 _ **Tsukishima Kei (23:36):**_ _We're coming down tomorrow._

Mikaela grinned at her phone. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.

* * *

After she had woken up at about 11:30 and Kageyama had calmed her down, he'd informed her that the surgery had lasted for about four and a half hours, taking until 8 pm. After that, they'd wheeled her to this room. Kageyama had arrived at 10:30 and when they'd informed him that her surgery was complete, he'd come up to her room immediately. He'd only been asleep for half an hour until she'd woken up.

Mikaela had passed out again and Kageyama had stayed in her room. When her phone went off in the morning with her alarm, both she and Kageyama were woken up. In her surprise, Mikaela nearly threw her phone across the room.

"Not gonna go for a run?" she joked weakly to Kageyama.

He shook his head. "No. Not today."

She hummed in response, setting her phone carefully on the small table next to her. "Thanks for coming down," Mikaela said gratefully, clenching her hands around the thin sheet covering her. Her stomach flipped over when she glanced at her legs. Carefully, she pried the sheet away and bit her tongue; her legs looked alright, but the absence of the prosthetic was unsettling.

Kageyama raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?" He glanced at her phone. "Have you checked your phone yet?"

Mikaela shook her head. "I only just turned the alarm off. Why?"

"You should let people know you're all good," he insisted. "I told the team, but there's a few other people you should probably tell. They'll want to come visit you."

Mikaela knew immediately that he was indicating Oikawa and Iwaizumi, and as to not have a miscommunication like last time, she sent a quick text to both of them to let them know that she was awake and the surgery had worked. After a second's hesitation, she sent a text to Kuroo as well. To her frustration, her mother had sent a text with only one word that bothered her to no end.

 _ **Kageyama Monomi (6:20):**_ _Results?_

Mikaela scowled and pressed the keypad with enough force to damage the screen.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (6:43):**_ _Come see for yourself._

"All good?" Kageyama asked, and she nodded. "The doctor told me to go get him when you were awake. I'll be back." Mikaela squeezed his hand one last time, and he stood up, heading towards the exit of the room. Mikaela took the minute she had to herself to try and decipher the code on the bag that was attached to the tube that ran into her arm, but with no luck. She figured out quickly that it was an IV bag, but why she needed it, she had no idea.

Kageyama returned with Doctor Sukiyaki behind him, and Mikaela hid her hands under the blankets so that he couldn't see they were clenched into fists. "Hi," she said warily.

"Good morning," he said warmly, taking a seat next to Kageyama. "How're you feeling?"

"Good," she replied, trying to be honest. "A bit shaken up, but I'm good."

Sukiyaki nodded. "That's to be expected. It was a long procedure, after all. Anything sore? Tense?"

Mikaela shrugged. "I haven't tried to move yet."

"Well, if you can't feel anything now, that's a good sign," he confirmed, flipping through a page on his clipboard. "Don't worry about the IV bag too much. Your body went into shock, plus you were a bit dehydrated, so it's just to help you come back from that. I can take that out in just a moment, actually."

"Please," she said, and he laughed.

"Alright, I will. Your brother here informed me that you normally take your pills at 7 am, correct?"

"Brother?" Mikaela glanced at Kageyama, whose eyes widened. "Y- Yeah. I do." She didn't bother correcting him, and judging by the look in Kageyama's eyes, it meant more to him than she could've tried to explain.

Sukiyaki smiled and flipped another page on the clipboard. "Wonderful. I've taken a look at your medication, and it should no longer be required."

She straightened up. "Really?"

"Really," he said. Mikaela couldn't stop herself from sharing an excited glance with Kageyama, whose grin stretched across his face. "Now, you're not out of the woods yet. There's still physical rehab and a recovery period of about two months before you will be walking with your prosthetic again."

"Where is it?"

"Your prosthetic?" She nodded. "Don't worry, the other doctors have put it somewhere secure."

A chill crawled up her spine. "I want it."

Sukiyaki nodded, leaning back in his chair. "We'll return it to you."

He didn't say it, but Mikaela could hear the 'eventually' at the end of his sentence. Something about the way he said it and just from her first impressions of those doctors set Mikaela on edge. "I want it now," she insisted. "Please."

He raised his eyebrows. "You'll get it back in due time-"

"Due time?" Mikaela snapped.

"It's quite safe, I promise you."

Kageyama's head was swiveling back and forth like he was watching a tennis game. Something inside of Mikaela snapped. "You're not allowed to withhold my possessions," she said coldly. "That doesn't belong to you and I'm certain that it wouldn't go well for you if my _mother_ found out you were holding it from me."

There was a heavy pause as Sukiyaki and Mikaela both digested what she had just said. Mikaela was almost immediately filled with the urge to apologize, but she needed to hold her ground, and who knows what those creepy doctors were doing with her prosthetic.

"We will return it to you immediately," Sukiyaki said quietly.

Mikaela leaned back against the pillow. _I won._ "Okay, thank you."

"Moving on. Technically, I'm supposed to wait for your mother before I disclose any information about your recovery period, but I can tell you that it'll be about two months before you're walking on your own again. You'll be spending a while in a wheelchair, and eventually we'll get you on crutches." Sukiyaki saw the discomfort on her face and backtracked. "Of course, the surgery worked well and you should be fine, but this is just to let your legs adjust. More for... caution, really."

"How long?" Kageyama asked, eyes flitting between Mikaela and the doctor. "I mean, how long in a wheelchair?"

Sukiyaki pursed his lips. "About a month, give or take. The three weeks on crutches afterwards are just to get you used to mobility. After that, if there's been no problems or fluctuations, you'll be free on your feet. But for that time, we ask that you have the prosthetic off."

"Okay," she agreed, glancing at her cousin. "Thank you."

"Do you have any idea when your mother will-"

The doctor never finished his sentence. He was cut off by the door swinging open. "Speak of the devil," Mikaela mumbled under her breath as her mother strode through the doorway, holding eye contact with the doctor for longer than necessary. "Hey, Mom."

"I take it the procedure was a success?" Kageyama Monomi quipped, glaring at the doctor.

To his credit, Sukiyaki didn't even flinch. "Yes. Everything went according to plan. She'll be back on her feet after two months of careful rest and physical rehabilitation, as long as she follows the guidelines we set out for her."

"Good. You'll receive your payment, as discussed."

"Thank you."

"Now, I require some private discussion with my daughter."

Sukiyaki stood up, and Mikaela was tempted to grab his hand and force him to sit back down. "Of course. I'll be in my office down the hall if you need me." He nodded to Mikaela, then Kageyama, and walked away, shutting the door behind him. Mikaela wanted to get up, run after him, and drag him back, because she couldn't imagine what her mother wanted to talk about now would be pleasant. Kageyama took her hand in his and squeezed.

"I said private conversation," Monomi said coldly, glaring at Kageyama.

Mikaela intervened before Kageyama could even think about moving. "He stays."

A tense silence followed, but Mikaela wouldn't allow herself to back down. She didn't argue against it, at least, so there was that. "So," her mother said shortly. "It worked."

"Yep."

She crossed her arms. "I take it this means you'll return home after you're discharged from the hospital."

Mikaela's eyes widened. "What? No."

"Excuse me?" Monomi's face pinched up and her eyes flashed dangerously. Mikaela nearly shrunk back into the pillow. "I've accomplished what you always wanted: to have use of your legs again without that goddamn medication. What more could I possibly give you? What more could I do to make you return? Do you even know the amount of money I've spent-"

"Mom, stop," she said suddenly, but her mother clearly hated being told what to do. Kageyama shot her a worried look.

"I have _raised_ you, and since your father was out of your life I have been the one to give you everything you need. He could never have done something like this for you-"

Mikaela clamped her jaw shut. "Don't you dare talk about him. He has nothing to do with this."

Kageyama shifted closer in his seat until he was almost leaning on the hospital bed. It clearly looked like he wanted to say something but didn't know what he could say. Monomi glared at her. "You're clearly still delusional from the medication, because what I've done clearly warrants your return to the house."

"You never made a deal with her," Kageyama said, gripping her hand. "She's not obligated to do anything."

"Shut your mouth, Tobio, you aren't-"

"Don't speak to him like that!" Mikaela cried out, her voice rising. Her hand squeezed his so tight that she wouldn't have been surprised if she accidentally broke his fingers. Monomi gritted her teeth but didn't retort, so Mikaela forged on. "God, Mom, this isn't a problem that you can solve through money. I just don't want to go back, that's all."

"So where the hell have you been living? You can't just jump houses for the rest of your life. You should-"

Mikaela stiffened. "Don't you think I know that? I know I can't, Mom, I feel horrible doing it."

"Then why not just come home?" she shouted, throwing her hands in the air.

"Because it's not a home anymore!"

Mikaela blinked, and a tear slipped down her cheek. She didn't even move to wipe it away, just shot her mother a desperate look that in a last-ditch effort to try and convey everything she was feeling. Monomi stepped back and actually looked somewhat guilty. "I don't feel safe," Mikaela said quietly. "I don't feel safe around you, and it's going to take more than two months and a surgery to change that."

 _Finally,_ something seemed to get through to her. Monomi even had the nerve to look hurt. Mikaela released a shaky exhale, sinking into the hospital bed.

Kageyama murmured something that she couldn't catch. She glanced at him and he shook his head, squeezing her hand.

"I can..." Monomi trailed off, taking a step backwards towards the door. "I'll speak to the school board. You can finish off your year in Karasuno and I can get you back into Niiyama for your second year."

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "You- You what?"

"No guarantees I can get you back on the team but I'll see what I can do," she continued, her face void of any emotion other than exhaustion. "Your recovery period is two months, correct? That gives you a few months afterwards to get back on your feet into volleyball."

She didn't even know what to say. Kageyama had let go of her hand in surprise.

"And..." she exhaled slowly, then turned to make eye contact with her. "I can get you an apartment close to the school. I may be able to purchase your father's old apartment should it not already be rented out."

The only words that she could manage were, "you can do that?"

Monomi shrugged. "Of course. This is me we're talking about."

 _And she's back._ "Th- Thank you, Mom," Mikaela stammered, breaking eye contact and glaring at the hospital sheets. "I... I'll think about it. I'll..." She trailed off. Kageyama was staring at her and she didn't want to look at him.

"Alright. Stay in touch."

With that, her mother was gone. Mikaela collapsed onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, trying to process her thoughts but instead finding her mind blank. She heard Kageyama shuffling beside her but she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

They were silent for a minute until Kageyama said, "so?"

"I don't know."

"Don't know what?"

Mikaela sighed. "All of it."

There was a squeak of a chair moving as Kageyama rose to his feet. He didn't say anything other than "I'll be back" and he left, closing the door behind him. He didn't say anything but Mikaela could read between the lines. He wasn't happy. Mikaela didn't even know how she felt- happy, sad, frustrated... All of her emotions were colliding.

"Fuck."

* * *

To her surprise, the third-years were the first ones to come see her, around 7 am. Apparently they'd planned on spending a day together in Tokyo, so they had left early. Sugawara went all 'Mom-Mode' on her ("Are you eating enough? Are you resting? Do you have enough water?") and Daichi had done the whole 'Overprotective Dad' nonsense ("Is everyone nice to you? Are you doing alright?"), and she'd joked that her 'parents' needed to lighten up and the two of them had flushed bright red.

Asahi was as skittish as always- there was something about hospitals that terrified him- but he still kept his head up and only looked like he would faint once. Shimizu was a godsend as always; she baked cookies for her that she left beside her bed. After many hugs and further congratulations from their game yesterday, Mikaela sent them on their way. They had a couple museums and touristic sites in mind.

She'd taken a nap after that, but had woken up again when Kuroo showed up, maybe three hours after the third years had left. He brought Kenma with him, who looked disinterested, but she appreciated the thought. Kuroo was about to interrogate her more about Tsukishima when Kageyama came in, and she'd hushed him so frantically that he promised he'd blackmail her later.

It was only after Kuroo and Kenma left that Mikaela realized it was ten after ten in the morning and she hadn't taken her medication. After a second of initial panic, she realized that her legs were fine.

"I don't need meds," she said aloud, staring in wonder at her thighs. "Nothing hurts."

Kageyama forced a smile. "That's good."

She was about to say something else when there was a polite tap at the door. Kageyama stood up and moved towards the far wall to open the door, and Mikaela's heart twisted in her chest when she saw Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. "You came!"

"Kaela!" Yamaguchi chirped, dashing over to her and grabbing her in a hug. "You're alright!"

"Mostly," Mikaela wheezed, feeling winded from the hug. "Still getting there."

He took a seat on her right while Kageyama moved back to his seat on the left. Tsukishima's eyes lingered on her for a second longer than necessary before he pulled up a chair and sat next to Yamaguchi. "So? When're you gonna walk?" Yamaguchi said eagerly.

She shrugged. "They say two months. One in a wheelchair, then one on crutches, then I should be fine."

"That's awesome!" Yamaguchi grabbed her hand and Mikaela felt her heart swell. "Mikaela, I'm so happy for you, this is great!"

"Dibs on not wheeling her around," Tsukishima said, shrugging.

Mikaela glared at him. "Come a little closer so I can punch you."

He snorted. "Why do you think I'm sitting back here?"

"No punching," Kageyama warned, tapping her shoulder. "You're resting."

"Tsukishima's an exception."

"No he's not."

"Yes he-"

"So," Yamaguchi interrupted, causing the cousins to stop their bickering and look at him, "how long are you in here? The hospital? When are you coming back to school?"

"School?" Mikaela's throat dried. "I'm going to have to go to school in a wheelchair? Dammit."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "It's not like everyone already knows you have a prosthetic leg or anything."

"What? I-"

"Remember that fight?" Yamaguchi said quickly, casting a quick glance at Kageyama before looking back to Mikaela. "With Kahano? And Yuka? You kind of blurted out that you had a metal leg."

The memory hit Mikaela like a brick. "Oh. Shit."

"Yeah, it's all anyone would talk about for a week," Tsukishima noted, crossing his arms. "People still wonder about it because no one actually has any proof and everyone's too scared to ask."

Mikaela quirked an eyebrow. "Everyone's too scared to ask? Why?"

Yamaguchi sweat-dropped. "Kaela, you punched a girl, no one wants to ask after that."

"A few tried to ask me," Kageyama added, glancing at Tsukishima. "They thought we were twins."

"They- They did? They asked? And you didn't say anything?" He nodded. Some of the tension in her shoulders released. "Oh, Kags, thank you. That means a lot." It did, really. She wanted to explain her own stories. Besides, if Kageyama had said anything, it would've only created more rumors.

"Well, now everyone's going to know when you show up to school in a wheelchair," Tsukishima said with a roll of his eyes.

Yamaguchi beamed. "Don't worry, Kaela, I'll wheel you around!"

"I'll do it," Kageyama agreed, grabbing her other hand.

"It's not a competition, you dorks."

Kageyama was about to respond when Mikaela's phone buzzed. She picked it up and opened up her messages. "Oh! Hinata and Yachi are almost here!"

"They came down together?" Yamaguchi asked. He turned to Tsukishima. "They could've just come down with us."

"I'll go find them in the lobby," Kageyama said, squeezing her hand one last time before letting go and standing up. "That idiot will probably get lost."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Kags, you and Hinata would destroy something if we left you alone."

"I'll go with them," Yamaguchi said.

"You sure?"

"Of course!" Yamaguchi grinned and thumped a fist against his chest. "Don't worry, I'll protect poor Yachi-chan from those two dorks." Kageyama scowled and he laughed sheepishly. "I mean, I'll do what I can."

 _Since when did you get so grown up?_ "Thanks, Yamaguchi," Mikaela said with a grin. "Good luck."

Yamaguchi stood up and was about to leave when he stopped and turned back to her. "Uh, Kaela?" he said, his cheeks flushing red. "You can, uh, call me Tadashi? If you want? You don't to- have to- if you don't want-"

"Call me Kaisha!" she blurted out, cutting him off. "If you don't want to call me Kaela."

There was an awkward pause until Kageyama said, "let's go," and Yamaguchi squeaked out an apology before he took off after Kageyama. Mikaela had been so wrapped up in the exchange that she hadn't realized that now she was alone in a room with Tsukishima.

 _The last time we were alone together, I kissed him on the cheek. Shit._

"Don't even think about it."

She jerked out of her thoughts. "Think about what?"

"First names."

Mikaela sighed and rolled her eyes. "Trust me, I wasn't, you moron." She sighed wistfully and looked the other way, feeling a bit too awkward to look at Tsukishima directly. "Um, I'm allowed to leave the hospital this Saturday."

Tsukishima's eyes widened. "That's... That's good."

Mikaela nodded, trying to smile. "Yeah. What sucks is just the wheelchair bit, I don't need anyone pushing me around. But I'm just happy that I can go off that stupid medication. That stuff caused more problems than it solved."

"Really?" Tsukishima said, raising an eyebrow at her. "If I remember right, it was 'that stuff' that allowed you to move past your cramps in the first place."

She waved a hand at him. "Minor details. More importantly, I'm going to play volleyball again!"

"Awesome."

"Thanks," Mikaela said, her positive attitude waning. Tsukishima was staring at her, and it looked like he had something on his mind, but she was too nervous to ask what it was. "What?"

He blinked. "What about what?"

"You're staring."

"Am not."

"Are too."

Tsukishima groaned. "You're such a child."

She stuck out her tongue. "I'm only two months younger than you are." She had learned of his birthday through one of her 'questions' and was not surprised to find out that he was older than her; her birthday was in November. Mikaela's eyes widened. "Hey, can I use one of my questions?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You've got four left, use them wisely."

"How many do you have? Six?"

"Is that your question?"

"No! Just curious."

"I've got seven left," Tsukishima corrected, rolling his eyes. "You use yours in dumb ways."

Mikaela frowned. "Hey! At least I got the answers for that assignment." She bit her lip. The anxiety for the possible answers she could receive was starting to settle in, and she knew that if she didn't ask her question soon, she'd lose her nerve. "Besides, this question's a good one."

He sighed and waved a hand at her. "Humor me."

"Did you-" She paused and exhaled slowly, rearranging the words in her head. "Did you come here to see me because you genuinely wanted to, because Yamaguchi forced you to, or because you felt obligated to?"

Tsukishima pursed her lips, considering her words. "You're asking if I came by choice."

Mikaela shrugged. "A bit more than that."

There was a heavy silence as Tsukishima considered her words. Mikaela clenched her fists and forced herself to meet his eyes, worried for the answer, because she _really_ wanted Tsukishima to say that he wanted to see her but she was nervous that he'd say he just came down because Yamaguchi wanted to go. She was thrilled that he was here, but if it was just because he felt an obligation to go, it wouldn't mean anything.

"You..." Tsukishima trailed off and leaned back into the chair. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why're you asking?"

She frowned. He was stalling- that wasn't a good sign. "Answer my question, and maybe I'll answer yours."

Tsukishima sighed and muttered something under his breath that Mikaela couldn't catch, but instead of badgering him about it, she laced her fingers and waited. She was mentally preparing herself for the answer she didn't want to hear, and she wouldn't be surprised if that's what he told her. This was Tsukishima, after all, and he was known to put the bare minimum effort into tasks, so just the fact that he was _here_ was good. It wouldn't mean as much if he said that he felt obligated or that Yamaguchi forced him. _But at least he came, that's better than-_

"Yes."

Mikaela blinked. "Yes what?"

Tsukishima crossed his arms and turned his head away, but Mikaela could see the blush building up on his face. "Yes, I came because I wanted to," he scowled, glaring at the door to the room. "Don't make me repeat it."

"Oh," she said, her voice dangerously close to a squeak. "Okay. Thanks."

He scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You've got three left."

Mikaela grinned. "For someone who was so dead set on avoiding this game in the first place, you're really hooked into it now."

"I am not," Tsukishima insisted, turning his head back to glare at her, "I just don't want you thinking that you can get more information out of me than you need."

"Me? Dig around for information? No way."

"I wouldn't put it past you."

She stuck her tongue out at him and he glared at her, but the silence that followed their conversation was comfortable and Mikaela found herself relaxing more. Something about Tsukishima's presence put her on edge, but another part of it was comforting, in an odd sort of way. Something occurred to her and Mikaela straightened up. "Hey, Tsukishima?"

"Now what?" he asked with a scowl.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Another question? Already?"

"No, not a question, more of a... proposition, I guess?"

Tsukishima paused, frowning at her. "Alright. What is it?"

"There's, uh..." Mikaela's confidence left her as quickly as it came. _Oh, come on, moron, you can do this._ "The third years stopped in this morning," she started, trying to talk about something that she was comfortable with. "They're, uh, going to a bunch of tourist spots and museums today."

"What does this have to do with a proposition?"

"I'm getting there, idiot, let me finish. They talked about going to a dinosaur museum- the National Museum of Nature and Science?" Tsukishima's eyes widened and he straightened up. "And I know how much you like dinosaurs, and I mean, we're in Tokyo, right? So I was wondering if on Saturday, when I'm released, maybe you want to go? It'd be my treat."

Mikaela nearly clamped her teeth down on her tongue as she surveyed the surprised look on Tsukishima's face. "That means I'd have to push you around the entire time?" he asked.

She smirked. "That's why it's my treat."

 _Holy shit I just asked him out._ Her heart was pounding in her chest, so Mikaela clenched her hands into fists to try and calm herself. Tsukishima was still looking at her with a peculiar expression on his face.

 _Shit, he's going to say no._ She braced herself.

"Sure."

Mikaela blinked. "What?"

"Sure, why not?" he said with a shrug. "It's not costing me anything and it's dinosaurs. If it means I have to put up with you for a few hours, I can do that."

"Okay, cool!" Mikaela said, her voice an octave higher than it should've been. "Sounds good! Saturday, then."

"Saturday," Tsukishima echoed, his cheeks red.

 _Saturday._

Kageyama and Yamaguchi returned shortly after with Hinata and Yachi, who were both overly hyper and excited to see her. Between hugs and overly-excited complaints, Mikaela kept glancing at Tsukishima, who was watching the exchanges with a small smirk on his face. Kageyama followed her gaze, but she quickly broke eye contact with Tsukishima and looked at her cousin, grinning.

 _Saturday can't come soon enough_

* * *

 ** _BONUS:_**

"Mika-chan!"

The familiar chirp from her least-favourite setter caused Mikaela to roll her eyes. "Hey, Oikawa-senpai."

He wrapped his arms around her in an awkward hug. "How's my favourite one-legged wing spiker?" he joked, sitting next to her bed. Iwaizumi followed, hugging her briefly before sitting down next to Oikawa.

"Not as good as I was with two legs," she joked back, meeting Iwaizumi's eyes. He smiled softly, but there was something sad about his expression that Mikaela couldn't put her finger on. "Two months and I'll be back on my feet, literally. Until then, it's gonna be a wheelchair and crutches."

Iwaizumi cracked a grin. "So when we were joking last time about how you were going to be in a wheelchair-"

"Yes," Mikaela said dramatically, "my worst nightmare is coming true."

"We'll pop by Karasuno just to tease you!" Oikawa said cheerily.

"Don't you dare."

"I'd stop him, Mikaela, but I think that'd actually be kind of funny."

"Iwaizumi, you _traitor-"_

"Um, hello?"

Mikaela wanted to slam her head off of a desk. Standing in the doorway, staring at the three of them with a confused expression on his face, was Kuroo. He was holding a paper bag in his hand and frowning at Oikawa and Iwaizumi. "Hey, Kuroo," she said with a sigh. Mikaela gestured lamely to the Aoba Johsai captains. "This is Oikawa Tōru and Iwaizumi Hajime, I went to middle school with them. They're the ones who taught me how to play volleyball."

"Mika-chan, as flattered as I am that you think so highly of us, who is this..." Oikawa trailed off, glaring and pointing accusingly at the Nekoma captain. "Who is this poser?"

"Poser?!" Kuroo said incredulously, swinging the paper bag around. "Ex _cuse_ me? Temper-san, who is this clown?"

"Clown?! Who do you think you are?"

Iwaizumi frowned. "Well, he's not wrong."

"Iwa-chan! Traitor!"

"How come he's got a nickname for you, huh?" Iwaizumi asked her, crossing his arms. "What's with that?"

Kuroo snorted. "It's because she's got a temper. And it bothers her."

Oikawa paused. "I can respect that." The moment of peace gave way to Oikawa's annoyance almost immediately. "Sorry, who the frick frack are you?"

"Kuroo Tetsurō, captain of the Nekoma volleyball team," Kuroo snapped, glaring at Oikawa.

"Oikawa Tōru, captain of the Aoba Johsai volleyball team," Oikawa snapped back.

"Dumbass, he knows your name."

"I needed to say it again! It sounds cool!"

"Nekoma? Like the cats?" Iwaizumi stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You look more like a rooster."

Mikaela threw her hands in the air. "That's _exactly_ what I said!"

"Mika-chan, how do you know this rooster?" Oikawa said with a snarl, refusing to break eye contact with Kuroo. The Nekoma captain seemed equally stubborn; he was glaring back at Oikawa with enough ferocity that she was almost surprised the setter didn't back down.

"Met him at a training camp-"

"Listen here, pretty boy, if you could get your head out of your ass for _one second-"_

"Oh ho! Look who's talking! You think you're so _cool_ with your _rooster hair-"_

"Assikawa, shut up for one second-"

"Both of you-"

"Mika-chan, this prick is too-"

"Says you, you asshole-"

 _"Oikawa-senpai! Kuroo-senpai! Shut up!"_

The use of suffixes combined with the increase in volume of her voice caused both of them to snap their jaws shut immediately. There was a long period of silence (Mikaela was half wondering why no nurse had come in to shut them up) and Iwaizumi looked mildly amused.

Then, Kuroo's eyes watered. "Mikaelaaaaa!~"

"Now what?!"

"You called me senpai!"

Oikawa scowled. "Oi, she called me senpai first!"

"How long did that take you?"

"Five months!"

"Ha! It's only been four and a half!"

"What? No it hasn't!"

Iwaizumi smirked. "It took me two minutes."

There was another pause as this information settled in, and Mikaela realized that yes, she'd called Iwaizumi 'senpai' when she was asking him to help her with a spike. "True," Mikaela agreed, shrugging. She turned to the two pettiest captains she'd ever met. "Sorry, guys."

"Iwa-chan, we'll discuss your traitorous behavior later." Oikawa turned to face Kuroo. "It seems we've faced the same unnecessary cruelty from Mika-chan."

"So it seems." Kuroo stuck out a hand. "I guess we do have something in common."

Something passed over Oikawa's face as he held out his hand and shook it. "We do."

"Dear God," Mikaela groaned, slapping herself in the forehead.

Iwaizumi grinned. "Idiots."

"Idiots," she agreed.

The next fifteen minutes were spent with some serious Oikawa-Kuroo bonding. Iwaizumi chatted aimlessly with Mikaela, discussing her hospital time and when they could come down next. Oikawa and Kuroo started discussing the various antics that their respective teams got into, and Mikaela found herself laughing hard enough that she was almost in tears.

She wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

* * *

 **Woooooo long chapter. Next one is going to be verrrrrry late- I'm away on a week-long trip with no wifi. When I come home, I'll write the chapter, but don't expect it until next Sunday.**

 **Ha. Derp:** Thank you so much, you're so kind T^T

 **Anne Nonimus:** I'm glad I could make you smile, thank you for your review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** I'll let you know when I'm hitting a part that's 'fourth season' territory, because I'd love for you to keep reading but I don't want to spoil anything for you. Thank you kindly for your review! :)

 **Huohua Duvessa:** Totally adore Kuroo way more than the average human should, but I'm like that with a lot of fictional characters, aha. Thank you for your review! :D

 **hannymae:** I considered it (it was entirely possible) but I kinda decided that Mikaela had been through enough crap and a sabotaged surgery would end up hella dramatic. Plus, I kinda wanted to start the recovery part of her story, and this is where it begins. Thank you as always for your review :)

 **Swaggishima:** Sorry, confessions will have to wait ;) But she asked him out at least! Right?... Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kitty:** Hope this chapter was satisfactory ;) Thank you for your review! :D

 **Bless you all. Thank you for your support, it means the world to me.**


	37. The Museum

**Thank you so much to Anne Nonimus, Sayori1412, Kitty, Huohua Duvessa, Swaggishima, ash20312, hannymae, AmIValid2, 43pineapples, Amaya98, MaskedSerenity, XunikittyX, elis2211, TheLunaGoddess, norapepple, SparrowOfTheBlock101, SilverSync, reading1dragon, and peachclouds for your much loved support! :D**

* * *

Saturday came way too quickly, and Mikaela wasn't prepared. At all.

It wasn't even the fact that this was a _date_ that scared her. It was the fact she was going to be out in public with only one leg. The doctor has insisted that she go without her prosthetic while she was in her wheelchair phase and for at least part of her crutches phase so that she wasn't tempted to try and put weight on her other leg. It made sense, she supposed, but it didn't mean she _liked_ it.

Combine her paranoia with the additional stress that this was a _date._ With a guy she actually _liked._

Kageyama had heard that Tsukishima would be taking her home from the hospital. At first, he was a bit put out, but after realizing that they spending the day at a museum, he freaked out even more. Mikaela had tried to insist that it wasn't a date, but Kageyama surprisingly (he was pretty dense usually) picked up quite quickly that Mikaela had feelings for him.

He was displeased, to say the least. There was a lot of "seriously? That prick?" but he understood. Tsukishima had been there for her a lot when Kageyama couldn't, and to Mikaela's surprised, that had scored Tsukishima some points with the setter.

"It doesn't matter if I like it or not, it's your decision," Kageyama had grumbled. "Just don't do anything dumb."

His support had surprised her but had been a huge motivation for Mikaela to go through with this date. Now, it was Saturday, and Mikaela was stressed beyond belief. She was sitting in her wheelchair in the lobby, fidgeting nervously with her hospital bracelet.

 _Do I look okay? What if he stands me up? What if he doesn't like how I look? What if something goes wrong? What if I lose my other leg? What-_

Mikaela groaned and slapped herself in the forehead. _So dumb. You're going to be fine._

Kageyama had visited her every other day without fail as the week went on, just to check in and see how she was doing. The others popped by occasionally as well, but Mikaela hadn't seen Tsukishima since his initial visit on Sunday. Sure, they'd texted, but never for long and nothing personal.

"It'll be fine," Mikaela murmured to herself to calm her anxiety. "It'll be fine."

She wouldn't say she dressed up for this. She still had her hair up, like always, with her bangs framing her face. Kageyama had brought her the comfiest hoodie she owned- a burgundy sweater with white print on the front- and she was wearing loose grey sweatpants. She either had to wear shorts or loose pants so that she could tie the free pant leg up under where her knee ended.

Mikaela also only had one shoe on, which was a bit weird for her. Weird not just because there was only one, but because she was wearing sandals for the first time. She hadn't worn her sandals since the accident, and even now, she was rocking the socks-and-sandals look, but it was an improvement.

 _Come on, Tsukishima, where are you..._

Two minutes later, the doors to the hospital lobby opened and Mikaela's head immediately snapped up. Tsukishima strolled in through the door, his hands jammed into the pockets of his jeans. He was wearing a grey, v-neck sweater and he had a backpack slung over one shoulder. He refused to make eye contact with her, instead choosing to walk towards her while glaring at the front desk.

"Tsukishima," Mikaela said, her tongue clogging her throat. "You, uh, well..."

Well, she couldn't exactly go out and say _you look so freaking good right now._

"Mikaela," he greeted, finally meeting her eyes and shrugging. "Good to go?"

She nodded, holding up a large stack of papers attached together by a clip. "Yep. Paperwork is all done and good to go. My mom came by this morning and finished all of it. I just need to come back twice a week for check-ups."

"That'll be annoying," Tsukishima said with a click of his tongue.

She shrugged. "Well, it could be worse."

"Not as annoying as you, of course."

"Says you, Cactus."

"Says you, your Highness."

"You're such a pain."

"Again, says you." The blond pulled his hand out of his pocket and held it out. "I can keep the papers in my bag if you want."

"Okay, thanks, asshole."

"Was that really necessary?" With a sigh, Tsukishima slipped the discharge papers into his backpack and turned back to Mikaela. "So? How do we get there?"

Mikaela grinned. "Lucky for us, it's a three minute walk." Tsukishima raised his eyebrows at her, his gaze flitting over her wheelchair, and she waved a hand at him. "Nothing parts the crowds like a kid in a wheelchair."

He snorted. "Well, I guess."

"And, by the way, I can kind of push myself around a bit, so you won't have to do much," she assured him, trying to fight the blush on her cheeks. "I should be fine."

"Is that your pride talking?"

She glared at him. "Hey, I can handle myself!"

"Not while you're in that wheelchair, you can't." With a sigh, Tsukishima moved behind her and rested his hands on the handles of her wheelchair. "Come on, stop being stubborn and let's go."

Mikaela was about to object, but Tsukishima was genuinely offering her help that she badly needed. She sighed to herself. "Thank you," she mumbled, crossing her arms.

He leaned down towards her. "Sorry, what was that? I didn't quite catch it."

The shit-eating grin on his face made her scowl, but his face was way too close to hers and her blush was taking over her face. "Thanks," Mikaela forced out, scowling. "Idiot. Do your ears not work?"

"They work better than your brain, apparently."

Mikaela was about to retort when he pushed gently and she started rolling forwards. Reflexively, her hands seized the sides of the chair. "I hate you," she managed as Tsukishima wheeled her out the main lobby doors. "Go left, by the way."

He hummed to himself. "Someone's a bit of a control freak."

"I am not!"

"Well, you're not in control right now, and it's freaking you out." Mikaela had no objections to that, so she clamped her jaw shut and glared straight ahead. "Therefore, control freak. Do you trust me?"

She blinked. "What?"

Tsukishima stopped pushing her wheelchair and stared at her. "Do you trust me?"

The answer was on the tip of her tongue, and it slipped out without hesitation. "Yes."

"Then relax, you moron."

He started wheeling her again, and Mikaela slouched in her seat. _Damn him._ Tsukishima was someone she trusted, sure, but she definitely wished it was her wheeling herself around. She'd be skittish around anyone else, of course, not just Tsukishima. Hell, even Kageyama wheeling her around would probably scare her a bit.

Sure enough, strangers jumped out of the way faster than she could blink. The crowds in Tokyo were ridiculous, but apparently the site of a girl in a wheelchair was enough to make them split apart and give herself and Tsukishima plenty of room to maneuver. Sure enough, they made it to the Tokyo National Museum of Nature and Science.

As agreed, Mikaela paid for their tickets. It was a weekend, so it was pretty busy at the museum, but once again, people were kind and gave her plenty of space. "Where to first?" Mikaela asked, cocking her head to look at Tsukishima.

"Dinosaur exhibit," he replied casually, already steering the wheelchair towards the elevator.

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Why'd I even ask?"

"Because you're dumb."

"Says the one who thought seven plus nine was fifteen."

Her wheelchair shoved forwards and she laughed. "That was one time," Tsukishima growled, jerking her chair to a stop and smacking the elevator button with his thumb. "Can't you just drop it?"

"Nope!"

"You're ridiculous."

"So are you."

The elevator doors opened, revealing a mother with one hand on a stroller and the other holding onto a young girl wearing a bright pink dress. Tsukishima backed the wheelchair up so they could get by and the mother smiled gratefully, but Mikaela didn't miss how her eyes lingered on the tied pant leg under her knee. Tsukishima also seemed to catch on to the staring because he stepped between the mother and Mikaela, keeping his eyes on the elevator door.

The young girl holding onto her mother's hand pointed a finger at Mikaela. "Mommy, why does she only have one leg?"

Mikaela put her hands on the wheels on the chair and spun them forwards, rolling herself into the elevator. Tsukishima followed close behind. "I don't know," the mother said softly, tugging her child's hand. "That's not our business."

The doors closed and the elevator started to rise. They were both silent the entire way up to the fourth floor.

When the elevator dinged to signal that they had reached their floor, Mikaela steadied her hands and prepared to push herself forwards, but Tsukishima was already there. He gently navigated the wheelchair out of the elevator and towards the entrance to the exhibit.

It was probably the most fun that Mikaela had had in a very long time. Tsukishima could name every single dinosaur skeleton they came across without batting at eye, and Mikaela was trying her hand at guessing the names and failing miserably. Eventually, she started making up her own names for the dinosaurs, and when Tsukishima would roll his eyes at her and tell her that no, that wasn't the name, she'd scoff and say she liked hers better.

They didn't stay in the dinosaur exhibit, but it was the one that they kept coming back to. Mikaela was getting better with the names and she was remembering more and more every time they came back. They hit several other exhibits as well, from ancient Japanese history to historical art to other animals. Tsukishima would make smart remarks about different things that made Mikaela laugh harder than she had in a month, and in turn she'd give the dinosaurs ridiculous names that made Tsukishima want to shove her wheelchair down the stairs (which he threatened to do at least twice).

They'd passed three hours in the museum before Mikaela had even realized what time it was. Not that she cared. Plus, Tsukishima hadn't said anything about time, so she wasn't going to ruin one of the happiest days she'd had in a while.

They were on their fifth time through the dinosaur exhibit when Mikaela snapped her fingers, pointing at a small screen with a picture of a dinosaur on it. "I got it! This one's the edmontosaurus!"

"Only took you five tries," Tsukishima said with a roll of his eyes. "Dumbass."

She waved him off. "I still think platypus-a-saurus sounds better. You're the dumbass if you don't realize what a good name that is."

"That's literally the worst name I've ever heard."

"Your opinion's invalid." Before Tsukishima could protest, she cut him off. "Well, look, it's got the same type of face," Mikaela insisted, pointing at the picture on the small stand in front of her. "Look! It's got a face that looks like that duck-bill thing that platypus have, you know?"

He didn't reply, so Mikaela turned to him, her eyes sparkling. To her surprise, he was staring at her with a small smile on his face, his cheeks dusted light pink. As soon as they made eye contact, he turned away, coughing. "Yeah, sure," Tsukishima forced out, glaring at the side of the room.

"Were you just smiling?" Mikaela asked.

"What's it to you?"

"I didn't know you knew how to smile."

He glared at her. "I _will_ shove you down the stairs."

She laughed. "No you won't."

His eyes lingered on for a second longer, then he turned away. "Come on, we haven't seen the space section yet."

"Okay," Mikaela said softly, suddenly aware that he was having fun as well. She had been worried that he wouldn't be enjoying himself and that she'd be nothing but annoying, but if that smile was anything to go by, he was genuinely enjoying what they were doing.

Thankfully, the astronomy exhibit was on the same floor as the dinosaur exhibit, so Tsukishima maneuvered the wheelchair down a hallway, around a few benches and past the bathrooms. Mikaela was happy that he was willing to push her wheelchair around, but at the same time, she kind of wanted to do it herself.

She was cut off from her thoughts when they turned a corner and a man was walking straight at them, head down and phone in hand. He didn't even notice them. "Tsukishima-"

Tsukishima couldn't get her out of the way fast enough (understandable, considering the size of her wheelchair) and the man ran into her, his knees smacking against hers. He nearly toppled forwards, falling onto her, but Tsukishima threw his hands out and managed to stop him from collapsing on her. Tsukishima looked down at her immediately. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she lied, hissing through her teeth. Her knees were aching from where he hit his knees off hers.

"Watch where you're going-" the man started, pulling himself up to his feet. As soon as he saw who he had run into, his face paled. "Crap, sorry, I-"

"I think you're the one that needs to watch where they're going," Tsukishima snapped coldly. "You couldn't be bothered to look up from your phone."

 _Shit._ "Tsukishima, it's fine," she protested weakly.

The man glared at him, narrowing his eyes. "Hey, show some respect to your elders. It's as much her fault as it is mine."

"I'll show you some respect when you earn it," he replied, crossing his arms.

"Listen, kid, I don't know what kind of privileged house you come from, but you should be listening when I'm talking," he shot back, pointing a finger at Tsukishima. "Just apologize and we can call this a day."

Mikaela had had enough. "Maybe if you could get your head out of your ass, we could," she snapped, then immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.

The man's eyebrows rose to the top of his head. "Excuse me? What the hell?"

"You heard her," Tsukishima said, shifting closer towards her.

Mikaela's saving grace arrived in the form of a tall, burly security guard with long dark hair tucked under a cap. "Excuse me? Is everything alright here?" he said calmly, his gaze shifting from the angry man to Mikaela and then to Tsukishima. He kept his gaze surprisingly neutral.

"These two kids bumped into me and refuse to apologize," the man said insistently, glaring at them.

Mikaela tried to speak up, but her anxiety was preventing her from saying what she needed to say. Tsukishima let a hand fall on her shoulder and took over. "We were rounding a corner and didn't see him until the last second," Tsukishima answered calmly. "He was on his phone so he didn't see us coming."

"Is that true?" the security asked, settling his hands on his hips.

The angry man looked startled. "Well, yeah, I guess, but they should still apologize."

"And we would've," Tsukishima snapped, "if his first words hadn't been 'watch where you're going'."

Mikaela wanted to fold in on herself and hide. She was shaking in her seat. Tsukishima's fingers clamped down harder on her shoulder. "Look, it seems like everyone's a bit riled up," the security guard said with a sigh. "Why don't we get an apology on both sides before I have to escort all of you from the museum?"

She was the first one to dip her head. "I'm sorry if we insulted you, sir," she rushed out, eager to get out of the conversation.

Tsukishima followed suit reluctantly, bowing slightly. "My apologies," he grumbled.

Mikaela wanted to cry when she saw the look on the man's face- he didn't look satisfied. "At least say it like you mean it-"

"With all due respect, sir," the security guard said, interrupting before Mikaela could even think about trying to get a word in, "they're humbling themselves despite thinking that they're in the right. If they're willing to apologize even though you were on your phone and couldn't notice a _wheelchair_ coming at you, then you should be even more willing to apologize."

The man opened his mouth to protest but seemed to realize that he had lost. "Sorry," he grumbled, dipping his head.

Tsukishima's face twisted into a smirk. "At least say it like you mean it," he mocked.

Mikaela had to hide her laugh behind her hand as the man sputtered in surprise, turning to the security guard like he expected him to back him up. The guard shrugged and motioned towards Mikaela and Tsukishima. The man bowed deeply and practically yelled, "I'm sorry!" before standing up straight and spinning around, heading in the opposite direction.

"Thank you," Mikaela said gratefully.

He tipped his hat at them. "Anytime, miss. Just let me know if you need any help getting around."

He left them alone, wandering back to his post, and Tsukishima removed his hand from her shoulder and grabbed the handles on the wheelchair again, giving her a push forwards. "Thanks for standing up for me," Mikaela said softly. If Tsukishima understood, he didn't say anything; he just kept wheeling her towards the entrance to the astronomy exhibit.

Mikaela had never really appreciated the sky as much as she did in that moment.

The space exhibit quickly became one of her favorites. Various models of planets and such caught her eye and Tsukishima actually had to jog to keep up with her occasionally. The various constellations that were on posters on the walls were fascinating, and Mikaela couldn't tear her eyes away. "This is amazing," she breathed, pushing the wheels of her chair to propel herself to the next poster.

Tsukishima tapped her shoulder, then pointed towards the far side of the exhibit. "What's that?"

Mikaela followed his gesture to look at a section of the room protected by large black walls and black curtains. Families were heading in through one set of curtains and leaving through the far side. "Let's go see," she suggested.

"I got it," Tsukishima said with a roll of his eyes, finally regaining control of her wheelchair and directing her towards the mystery room.

"I can take myself," she argued.

"I know," he replied.

Mikaela zipped her lips as Tsukishima continued to move her wheelchair until they were at the entrance to the room. A warning sign at the doorway stated something about darkness but Mikaela couldn't be bothered to read it, so she grabbed the wheels of her chair and shoved herself inside.

It was the most gorgeous thing Mikaela had ever seen. It was a pitch black room, and the ceiling was covered with tiny lights that made up the stars in the night sky. Constellations that she'd only just seen a few minutes ago were twinkling brightly above her and beside her, but the room was tall enough so that Tsukishima couldn't touch the top without jumping.

"This is..." Mikaela was lost for words. Tsukishima wandered behind her, letting her wheel herself around. "Isn't this cool?" she asked, turning towards Tsukishima.

He nodded. "Yeah. It is."

She turned back to the stars and reached a hand out, pointing at one of the many formations. "Hey, that one was just outside! I think it's-"

Mikaela was cut off when Tsukishima kissed her on the cheek.

She was so surprised that she completely lost her voice. Gaping, Mikaela turned to look at Tsukishima, who had his hands jammed in his pockets and was staring at the far wall, a small smirk on his face. When she finally found her voice, it was all she could do to stammer out, "what?"

"Payback," was all Tsukishima said before he strolled towards the exit door to the star room, as smug as he could possibly be.

It took the better part of two minutes for Mikaela to pull herself together and wheel herself out of the room. Tsukishima was waiting for her at the exit and grabbed onto her wheelchair as soon as she emerged from the room. They were quiet all the way back to the main floor, until Mikaela nudged him and asked if they could possibly check out the gift shop before they left.

This was the first time they actually split up. Mikaela wheeled herself through various aisles, glancing at the different mementos that the museum offered as Tsukishima hunted through a different aisle.

Something caught her eye, and as soon as Mikaela got a better look at it, she knew immediately that she was going to buy it. It was a small key chain with a tyrannosaurus rex on the end. Most of the key chains had other logos or signs on them, but this one was plain and simple and she wanted something to remember this trip by.

"It's perfect," she mused to herself, pulling one from the stack and continuing through the aisle.

Five minutes of browsing later, Mikaela wheeled to a halt in front of Tsukishima. He tilted his head and met her eyes. "Find anything you like?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yep." She held up the key chain.

Mikaela was surprised when Tsukishima's face broke into a grin. He pulled a small shopping bag out from his backpack and opened it, pulling out the exact same key chain. "We have similar tastes," he said dryly. "I guess I'll have to return mine."

"No, don't do that," Mikaela protested, still unable to move past the fact that _holy shit he bought the same key chain I wanted!_ "I'll put mine back, I haven't bought it yet."

"I'll do it," he said with a sigh, standing up. "Wait here."

So she did. Part of her wanted to go and hunt through the aisles and find a different key chain or something, but just the fact that Tsukishima had picked out the same item was more than enough for her. Tsukishima returned a minute later, and the two of them left.

The walk to the train station took a while, but Mikaela expected it was more taxing on Tsukishima than it was for her, especially since he pushed her the entire way there. It was only when they had paid for their train tickets and gotten on the train ride home that Tsukishima sat down and pulled out his backpack, pulling out the key chain he'd bought.

"Putting it on your bag?" she asked.

He nodded. Mikaela watched him attach the clip before he reached back into his bag, pulling out... another bag? He held it out to her. "For you," Tsukishima said softly, glaring at his shoes.

She accepted the bag and opened it up, revealing the same dinosaur key chain. "You didn't put it back," Mikaela realized, looking up at him in surprise. "Why..."

"Today was..." Tsukishima sighed, clearly frustrated with whatever he was trying to say. "Today was fun. Thank you."

"I should be thanking you," Mikaela said with a weak laugh. "I couldn't have gotten through today without you."

He smiled softly, and it was the best thing that Mikaela had seen all day- including the room of stars. "Anytime," he said quietly, taking her hand in his. His cheeks were red (and so were hers, she suspected) so he turned away, leaning back into his chair. He hid their hands beneath his backpack- secretive. It didn't take a genius to realize that Tsukishima wasn't a fan of public affection.

Mikaela smiled to herself and squeezed his hand.

They didn't let go until the train stopped almost an hour later.

* * *

 **WHAT A FLUFFY CHAPTER WOW I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD IT IN ME**

 **Next chapter we move onto the manga again. So, if you're only caught up with the anime and not the manga, things will be spoiled for you. This is your warning.**

 **Disclaimer: I've never visited the Tokyo National Museum of Nature and Science so I don't know its layout or design. What I've written is not accurate in terms of where these museum locations are located and whether everything I've detailed is in the museum or not.**

 **Anne Nonimus:** I'm glad you liked Oikawa and Kuroo's interaction, I realized that they'd never met in the anime/manga and wanted to see what would happen if they did XD Thank you for your kind review! :)

 **AmIValid2:** Iwa-chan's just upset to see his favourite junior in the hospital :( Poor boy... thank you for your review! :D

 **hannymae:** I was trying to think of something petty that Oikawa and Kuroo could argue about and I realized how big of a deal being called 'senpai' is for some people... and then I realized that Iwaizumi earned that so quickly XD I'm so glad you liked that bit! I hope this chapter was satisfactory ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** I hope those two dorks eventually meet in canon, they're so funny and I'd love to see what would actually happen xD Thank you as always for your lovely review! Much love! :D

 **Huohua Duvessa:** Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story so much, that makes me so happy T^T I'm glad you liked the Kuroo/Oikawa bit, that was fun to write xD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **ash20312:** I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE LIKING THIS AHA THAT WAS SUCH A GOOD CHAPTER TO WRITE! THANK YOU SO MUCH! :D

 **Swaggishima:** I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much! :D

 **Kitty:** Done with the leg stuff now! (hopefully, probably just another few mentions here or there) Her athleticism from volleyball combined with pure adrenaline is what helped motivate Mikaela and may have saved her life. Well, if she wasn't a volleyball player, she wouldn't have been in that gym in the first place, would she? XD Thank you for your reviews! :D

 **250 follows, over 200 reviews, almost 200 favourites. Wow. I'm blown away by your support. Thank you so much for making this story such a success and making me so excited to update this consistently.**

 **Much love!~**


	38. The News

**Thank you endlessly to Sayori1412, Aominewolf, hannymae, Skyfern, Coolfire30, Kitty, chibi-no-baka, NovaMey96, arwasamir1999, Saephiel, and michelle. kong. 7 for your support! :D**

* * *

The initial shock of having a classmate in a wheelchair made Mikaela the center of attention for at least a week.

Additionally, the fact that she only had one leg made everyone want to become her best friend.

It was true that during her fight with Yuka, she had blurted out that she had a metal leg, but that just sent rumors running rampant right and left. Showing up to school on Monday with only one leg, sitting in a wheelchair with her leggings tied up right under her right knee, the school practically blew up. Yuka had glared at her for a solid minute before breaking eye contact, but she was the only negative interaction that Mikaela had.

Nobody was really... _mean,_ exactly, but everyone was a bit pushy and wanted to know what happened. Thankfully, Mikaela had gotten a bit of a reputation after punching Yuka in the face and nobody seemed overly inclined to question her more than they should.

November was coming at them in full swing, and the only good thing about the wheelchair was that Mikaela could wrap herself in blankets. She got a couple jealous stares, but honestly? She'd rather be walking.

It was the day that everyone was getting measurements for the Spring High that something lit the spark in Mikaela's brain.

Everyone was strangely competitive over things as trivial as height- Hinata had actually memorized how tall everyone was before hand so he could compete over who grew the most- but the most competition came from the run-up jump. Kageyama beat Hinata (if he hadn't, Mikaela would've held it over his head for days on end) but Hinata actually managed to reach as high as Asahi.

While Hinata and Kageyama were bickering and Mikaela was jotting down the recorded heights, Takeda entered the gym. "Gather round!" Daichi called.

She winced. She hated when he did that.

Every time Daichi called to gather around, there was a rush to see who would be pushing Mikaela's chair into the meeting circle. Hinata, Tanaka, Nishinoya, and Kageyama quite literally fought each other off for who would get to the chair first- they had a pre-established rule that once someone reached the chair, the fight was over- and Mikaela wasn't allowed to try and move.

"This one's mine!" Tanaka howled, lunging forwards.

Nishinoya tackled him. "Sorry, Ryu!"

Kageyama surged forwards, but Hinata jumped on his back. "Oi! Scrub! Get off me!"

"No way! You're not beating me this time, Bakayama!"

"Nishinoya! Stop biting me!"

"Mmph!"

"Oi! Stop!"

"Hey, Kaisha," Yamaguchi greeted casually, coming up behind her and grabbing the handles of her wheelchair. "Good to go?"

"Thanks, Tadashi," she said with a sigh, glancing at the four idiots as they grappled on the ground. Since they'd shifted to a first name basis, it'd still been a bit awkward, but they were easing past it. "I can't wait to get out of this thing," Mikaela grumbled, knowing she had a bit less than two weeks left.

He laughed. "Yeah, but then it'll be crutches, and they'll be fighting over who gets to carry you."

"Yes, but at least I have something to hit them with," Mikaela said with a grin.

By the time they'd joined the group, the Idiot Squad, as Mikaela so affectionately called them, realized she wasn't where they thought she was and that Yamaguchi had already brought her to the group. "Yamaguchi!" Nishinoya wheezed from under Tanaka. "Traitor!"

"Yamaguchi, you didn't say you were playing!" Hinata yelped.

"We aren't 'playing' anything!" Kageyama protested. "Get _off_ me, you dumbass!"

"Oi!" Daichi's shout shut the four of them up immediately. "Get over here!"

When everyone had finally assembled and bowed, Takeda looked like he was going to burst. "I apologize for interrupting your practice, everyone!" he cried out. "I'll make this quick, I've just received some very huge news!"

He held his hands up next to his face and gathered his hands into fists. "This is crazy. Kageyama-kun!" Takeda pointed at the setter. "You have been invited to an All-Japan Youth Training Camp!"

Everyone around her started yelling, but Mikaela froze up.

All-Japan Youth Training Camp?

Everyone was shouting, and even Shimizu was murmuring, "amazing. That's amazing." Tsukishima looked mildly impressed, which was a lot of emotion for him, and Hinata looked like someone had slapped him clean across the face. It finally sunk in.

 _All-Japan Youth Training Camp!_

"Tobio!" Mikaela shrieked, turning so sharply in her chair that she nearly toppled over. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were both next to her immediately to sit her up straight. "This is it! This is what we talked about, what we dreamed of!" Mikaela had heard of this camp when she was in her last year of Junior High, and as soon as she'd mentioned it to Kageyama, their dream was to make it to that camp during their first year of school. "This is the one Ushijima went to! This is where they pick the team!"

"Mikaela, breathe," Sugawara said worriedly.

She shook her head vigorously. "I can't! Holy crap! Tobio, you've been gunning for this all year! Oh my god! They'll pick Japan's team from here! Holy shit!"

"Mikaela, you're going to fall out of your chair," Tsukishima snapped. "Calm down."

Mikaela was much too excited to listen. "Kags, don't you get it?"

The realization spread over Kageyama's face and he turned to her, his face lighting up in a grin. "I did it."

Takeda jumped into the details: the camp lasted five days at the beginning of December and attendance wasn't mandatory, but Daichi insisted that Kageyama should go anyways. Kageyama turned back towards her, his face wide with a grin. "Kaisha, I made it," he murmured softly.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it briefly before letting go. "Of course you did."

"What about me?"

Mikaela blinked, surprised by Hinata's question but finding that she shouldn't have been. Hinata was just as motivated as Kageyama to improve in volleyball, but Mikaela could still see the vast difference in their skill set. The poor boy could barely manage receives. "The only one who got an invitation was Kageyama-kun," Takeda said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry."

Hinata looked dumbstruck. Sugawara shifted closer to Kageyama. "Hey, Kageyama, when you get famous and get interviewed, tell them you learned everything you know from your awesome senpai, Sugawara."

"Quit trying to brainwash him," Asahi scolded.

Mikaela frowned. "That's very un-mom-like of you, Suga-senpai."

"No fair getting a head start, Suga!" Tanaka cried out.

"I've got one more important piece of news!" Takeda called out, clapping his hands together. "Also happening at the beginning of December is a special training camp for promising rookies in the Miyagi prefecture. Johzenji High School's coach Anabara just called me to inform me of it. It's hosted at Shiratorizawa and coach Washijo helps to run it. It was conceived with the idea of improving the volleyball level in our prefecture. This particular camp invites only rookies, and if I were to summarize it..."

He paused. "It's like a 'mock youth camp' of sorts."

"Mock youth camp," Daichi murmured.

Takeda nodded. "One of our players has been invited to this camp."

Mikaela held her breath. The look on Hinata's face told her that he was ready for it to be him, but if it was run by the Shiratorizawa coach, she'd bet on it not being Hinata. From what she'd researched on the coach, he believed in height and power (as shown by his starting roster) and if it was anything to go by, he'd pick someone who performed well in the finals game, which would have to be-

"Tsukishima," she guessed.

Several people on the team shot her weird looks, and Tsukishima scoffed, "there's no way-"

"Actually, she's right," Takeda confirmed. "Tsukishima-kun, you've been invited."

"What?!" Hinata screeched in disbelief.

"A camp?" Tsukishima muttered distastefully.

Yamaguchi looked as pumped up as Mikaela had been for Kageyama. "Tsukki, that's so awesome! You're one of the best rookies in the prefecture," he gushed, waving his hands wildly. "This is amazing!"

"Tsukishima, this is awesome," Mikaela agreed.

He frowned at her. "Of course you'd say that, you volleyball-obsessed moron."

Mikaela pursed her lips and looked away as the rest of the team hounded on Tsukishima, trying to convince him to go to the camp. She'd understood that he wasn't intending to be rude, but there was nothing she wanted more to be at one of these camps too.

Tsukishima seemed to notice that he'd said something wrong, because he looked like he wanted to say something, but Tanaka leaped at him and he couldn't get the words out. Mikaela huffed and spun her wheels so she was facing Takeda. "I take it that means you'll both be participating! Wonderful!" Takeda bowed and took off, probably to go confirm that both first years would be attending their respective camps.

Kageyama turned to Hinata and grinned. "Looks like I'll be going on ahead."

Hinata looked like he wanted to attack Kageyama, but Mikaela wheeled forwards and grabbed Kageyama's wrist. "Hey, leave it," she said, her tone having a lot more snap than she intended. "He'll work hard."

"Thanks, Kaisha," Hinata said with a scowl, "but-"

Kageyama wasn't looking at his partner anymore. His confused stare was aimed at Mikaela. "What?"

"He'd go if he could," she said firmly, looking Kageyama in the eye. "And I'm sure he'll accomplish just as much as you will on his own. He's got the motivation now, hasn't he?"

There was an awkward pause. Mikaela sighed and dropped her gaze. "Sorry, Tobio, I'm in a bit of a weird mood. I'll... catch you later."

The first years watched her propel herself towards the doors. Kageyama looked to Hinata, who looked just as confused as he was. Yamaguchi was biting his lip, a worried expression crossing his face. "Someone needs to go with her, especially in this weather," he murmured, "I can-"

"It's fine," Tsukishima said with a sigh. "I'll go. I was done with practice anyways." He turned to Kageyama. "Besides, she's at my place tonight, right?"

Kageyama nodded. "Yeah."

"Okay. Tell coach I'm tired." Tsukishima moved towards the bench, pulling his jacket on and then sliding his track pants over his shorts. The other first years watched him warily as he left, headphones pulled tight over his ears.

The three remaining first years were silent for a moment until Hinata said, "is Crappishima acting weird? He's being less salty than usual."

The look on Yamaguchi's face was unreadable. "Who knows," he said quietly, turning around. "Let's go practice."

Kageyama and Hinata wouldn't say no to that. They both turned back to practice, heading to the serving line to practice, all thoughts about Mikaela pushed to the back of their heads.

* * *

"Now what are you so moody about?" Tsukishima said, grabbing the handles of her wheelchair.

She scowled. "Let go, I was doing fine-"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Mikaela, it's cold enough to potentially snow, and you haven't even made it off the campus yet. Did you seriously think we were going to leave you alone?"

"Well..." Mikaela groaned, trying to get her hands on the wheels of her chair so that she could push herself forwards, but Tsukishima swatted her hands away. "Just leave me alone, idiot."

He hummed. "Can't do that."

"Please?"

"No. You're being dumb."

Mikaela crossed her arms as Tsukishima wheeled her around a corner in the road. "At least I only have to put up with this for another week or so," she muttered under her breath.

They went on in silence. The walk never usually was very far, but the wheelchair was (obviously) slowing them down. When they wheeled past Mikaela's house, she slouched further down in her seat. Tsukishima spoke up. "So, what did I say to piss you off?"

She frowned. "Since when do you care?"

"Since I've got to put up with you for a night and I'd rather not deal with you while you're grumpy."

Mikaela sighed. "Well, sucks to be you, then." Tsukishima dropped the subject, but Mikaela's head kept spinning. He _had_ ticked her off, actually... And he was asking her about it? Was it just her, or had Tsukishima changed in the past month or so? He was a lot less cold and closed off, and he was even trying to take opportunities to talk to her. That never happened. Ever. "Fine," she said with a sigh.

She didn't have to look at him to know he was smirking. "I win."

"I hate you." Mikaela huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. "It was just when... I don't know, it's dumb."

"That's to be expected."

"Oh, shut up. Sorry, just... Kageyama and I have been dreaming about this camp for a while. I found it when I was hunting online for additional opportunities to improve, you know, and when I showed it to Kags, he assured me that we'd both make a name for ourselves and go in our first year of high school. That plan really started to fall apart when, well..." she trailed off. "You know, at the end of his Junior high career. He wasn't exactly the most likeable person.

"And now, he's actually going," Mikaela continued, grateful that Tsukishima was standing behind her so she wouldn't have to look at him. "And it's killing me that I can't go too. And when Takeda announced that there was another camp and you'd be going, and you just..."

Tsukishima jumped in. "You thought I was ungrateful, and that ticked you off."

She sighed. "Basically, yeah. Sorry, I know I can't control how you feel and that I shouldn't try to... Never mind. Never mind, sorry."

"Don't get me wrong," Tsukishima said, "it's nice and all, but a camp? Those training camps we did with Nekoma and them were hard enough, I don't need five days with a bunch of crazed idiots."

"You spend all your time here putting up with crazed idiots," Mikaela pointed out.

There was a pause. "Fair enough," Tsukishima said eventually. "Don't worry, I'll go. Doesn't mean I'll enjoy it." That was acceptable in Mikaela's eyes- it was Tsukishima, what did she expect- and so they continued their trip in quiet once again, turning another corner. "Why can't you go too?" he asked suddenly.

Her head shot up. "What?"

"I mean, if you tried to break into the camp with Kageyama, you'd probably be arrested," he offered helpfully, and Mikaela swung a hand at him. "But you could probably persuade them that you're valuable enough to keep around."

 _Valuable enough to keep around?_

It hit Mikaela like a brick.

She got so excited that she tried to push herself out of her chair, but Tsukishima had apparently sensed that this was coming because his hands were already on her shoulders and forcing her back down. "Tsukishima, that's it! I could-"

"Sit down, idiot-"

"I could definitely find the guy's email online! The coach who's running the camp! I can try and convince him to let me come and be a manager? Like, stat keep or help out with plans and stuff? I mean, I'll be on crutches at the time, but I'll wear my prosthetic so no one will really ask questions, I'll just say I have a sprained ankle or something- yes! That could work! And it won't cost him anything, plus I'll sort out my own lodging- I'll just take the train every day- yes! This is a win-win!"

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Are you done?"

"Shut up, Tsukishima. Could I borrow your laptop when we get back?"

* * *

 _Fuki Hibarida-san:_

 _My name is Mikaela Kaisha from Karasuno High School and I've recently received news that one of the players from my school team has been invited to your All-Japan Youth Intensive Training camp. This..._

Mikaela bit her lip and paused. Then, after banishing any sense of reluctance in her head, she kept typing.

* * *

Fuki Hibarida's lips twitched when he finished reading the email in his inbox.

He enjoyed players taking initiative. He loved it when they asked questions about critique for their techniques. He loved players who sought nothing but to improve. He was the coach for Japan's male volleyball team, after all. Improvement was key. Initiative was key. Communication was key.

But this?

There were plenty of ulterior motives that could possibly be hiding in Mikaela Kaisha's email. Gathering information on other players for her team was the first thing that came to mind, but Kageyama Tobio was joining this camp and he was from the same school, so that wouldn't make much sense. Why would she come to spy if Kageyama could do it for her? Truth be told, if she was the manager for her team, then one of her specialties would be gathering information. Perhaps there's things she could pick up on that others couldn't.

It was true that they could always use an extra hand...

"No," he mused to himself, moving to delete the email. "I can't make exceptions for people."

"What are you on about now?"

He glanced up at Hujita Yahanaba, who was glaring at him from her computer. Hujita was essentially his female counterpart- she was the coach for Japan's female team. The female side of the training camp was in the same place, just in another wing of the facility. Apparently, selection for her camp had been just as difficult as it was for him. _So much talent in the country right now._

He chuckled. "Nothing to concern yourself with. A manager from one of the teams of a student that I've invited to camp wants permission to come as well. She hopes to offer her services in any management-related ways that she can. She even says she'll worry about her own food and where she's staying."

Hujita snorted. "She wants to go to training camp that badly? She should be a well known player, not a manager."

"Her name is foreign. Perhaps she's not from around here," Fuki mused, glancing at the letter 'L' in her last name.

"What's her name?"

"Mikaela Kaisha."

There was a long pause. Hujita glared at him heavily, and Fuki was starting to wonder what he had said wrong. "Repeat that for me."

He cocked an eyebrow. "Mikaela Kaisha?"

"You're kidding me!" Hujita stood up from her desk and was by his computer faster than he could blink. "Her? A manager?"

Fuki frowned. "You know her?"

"I was scouting her for the end of her Junior High career, then she went to Niiyama but she completely disappeared. Move." Fuki stood up from his seat and Hujita sat down, her eyes scanning over the email. "You're kidding me. She's a manager for Karasuno? Why isn't she a player? Why's she at Karasuno?"

He held up his hands in surrender. "I have no way of knowing. Is she that good?"

"She was good, but she had so much potential to be great." Hujita's eyes furiously scanned the rest of the email as she talked. "She had over two years of libero experience before she suddenly switched to wing spiker in the middle of the year. Not only did she have significantly more spiking power than most girls her age, but she's ambidextrous."

"Ambidextrous? Completely?" He whistled. "Impressive, especially at her age."

Hujita turned to him and he saw the spark in her eye. "I passed her off as an average libero when I was first scouting the Junior players, but she switched to wing spiker and literally flipped the world upside down."

"Well, I doubt it was literal-"

"Shut up, you know what I mean. She just came out of nowhere. She was going to play on Niiyama and grow into one of the strongest players Japan had ever seen." Hujita rounded on Fuki, her eyes wide and face twisted into an expression of pure disbelief. "So why the hell is she a manager?"

A small smile grew on Fuki's lips. "Why don't I invite her and we'll see?"

* * *

The next night, while Mikaela was staying at Kageyama's house, is when the email came back. Her phone dinged and Mikaela nearly dove out of her wheelchair to grab it.

 _Mikaela Kaisha-san:_

 _I admire your determination and dedication to not only your team but to the sport of volleyball. It would be our pleasure to have you at the All-Japan Youth Intensive Training camp this December. We..._

Mikaela didn't even get through the rest of the email. "Oh my god!"

Kageyama burst into the guest room. "What happened? Are you okay?"

Gleefully, she held out her phone, her grin wide enough to split her face. "They're going to let me come! They said it was okay! Holy shit!"

"They did?" Kageyama's face shifted from disbelief to excitement. "Really?"

"Yeah!"

She lunged at him, and he grabbed her in a hug, squeezing hard enough to bruise her ribs. They didn't even say anything, just stood there in a hug; they both understood. Mikaela had made it a personal goal to attend one of these camps when she was young, and when she'd described it in vivid detail to Kageyama, he'd been just as interested as she was. She hadn't realized the offers for these camps would be sent out around now. In all honesty, she'd kind of forgot about it.

This was even better than going to the girls' camp- she was going with Kageyama.

It was going to be the best week of her life.

* * *

 **Y'all I wrote this chapter so fast wow-**

 **Sayori1412:** Oh my goodness you're way too sweet, thank you so much T^T You're even accepting spoilers for this story?! I'm so honoured. I'm so glad you loved the last chapter and thank you so much for your amazing review :D

 **Aominewolf:** Mine too ;) Normally I update once a week, but my schedule has been all over the place lately and since I'm moving in this weekend, I'm trying to update as much as I can before then. Hopefully, there will be another update on Friday or Saturday. Don't worry, your English is great! Thank you for your review! :)

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 **Anne Nonimus:** I love how you picked out some of your favourite quotes from the story! I'm so glad you liked this chapter, thank you so much T^T

 **Coolfire30:** I'm sorry for making you cry? xD Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad you finally decided to read this story and I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! Keeping Tsukishima in character is so hard, thank you for telling me I'm doing okay T^T You're so kind, I'm glad you're as emotionally attached to this story as I am. Thank you for your reviews! :D

 **Skyfern:** Thank you for staying up until ungodly hours of the morning just to review xD But make sure you get your sleep! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **I'm moving in on Saturday. Oh god. That's why this update is so early ;) I've been working extra hard on this story between work breaks this week, so hopefully I'll have another chapter out by Saturday. How nice would that be?! After that, the schedule's going to get a bit hazy XD**

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	39. The Coach

**Thank you so much to Swaggishima, Kitty, Sayori1412, AmIValid2, Anne Nonimus, Aominewolf, Skyfern, ArchimedesAckermann, PheonixBird06, Saephiel, PopperPaper, and Scarletdewdrop for your support! Thank you all so much! :D**

* * *

Her crutches were actually kind of cool.

November 30th, Mikaela went back to the hospital for her usual check up, and Doctor Sukiyaki informed her that she could now move on from the wheelchair to crutches. The crutches were custom designed (as per her mother's order) and were actually sort of comfortable. They weren't like typical crutches that rested under her armpits and had handles she would grab. These ones slipped over her elbows.

The crutches consisted of a long, silver pole with a rubber end on one side and a funky hand contraption on the other. Mikaela would slip her hand through a cylindrical opening and grab a handle that protruded from the other end of the pole. The top part of the contraption would fasten around her elbow for extra support. It made walking quite easy, surprisingly enough, because Mikaela wasn't just using her hands to prop herself up but her whole arm.

Even better, she could bend her elbow and the contraption went with the motion. Meaning, if she was just standing, she could move her arms (past the elbow) and could hold a clipboard, write down notes, and hand things out to people while still getting the necessary support.

These crutches were miracle workers.

It had taken her a few days to get used to walking again- after all, she'd gone a month without using her legs whatsoever. By the time she and Kageyama were supposed to leave for the five day camp, she'd only been on crutches for a few days.

It was Wednesday, December 5th, and they were supposed to be at the site for the camp by 11. Mikaela knew she'd slow them down so she made sure that they'd be extra early getting to the train station. "Come on, Tobio, we're going to miss the train," she called over her shoulder.

"I'm coming," he complained, jogging to catch up with her. "Do you even know where to go?"

"Roughly. You have the sheet from Takeda?"

He held it up. Takeda had written down where to go and what to do so that they could get to their destination. _What a godsend he is._ "Right here," Kageyama said with a frown, "and seeing as I'm the one with a sheet and I've got both legs working, I should lead."

She scowled. "Rude."

"At least they're letting you wear your prosthetic again," he pointed out.

Mikaela sighed, glancing down at her fake right leg, covered by track pants and a running shoe. That was the best part about transitioning to the crutches, she supposed; she was free to use her prosthetic again. Even if she couldn't put any weight on it, at least she had it. It made her one hundred times more comfortable in public.

They found their train and made it inside, sitting down. Mikaela pulled out her phone and brought up the email she'd received from Fuki Hibarida. "At least he was kind enough to say I could lodge at the institute," she murmured, rereading the line to make sure she hadn't made it up.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"I was wondering, actually..." Mikaela trailed off, then glanced at her cousin again. "Do you think the girls' camp is going to be held at the same place?"

"Probably," Kageyama replied without hesitation. "Why?"

 _Isn't it obvious?_

"Never mind," she mumbled, leaning back into her seat. She tilted her head away from him, looking towards the window. "Never mind."

Kageyama dropped the topic, clearly just as ready to get to this camp as she was. The realization that the girls' camp was probably at the same place made her blood run cold- would she have to run into any of the Niiyama girls?

 _God, I really need to get over myself._

The train ride was long, but what made it worse was that they had to switch trains frequently. It was hard enough figuring out where they had to go, but with the combined stress that Mikaela couldn't move as fast as she used to was freaking her out. She didn't want to be the reason that Kageyama would be late to camp, or miss the train that would take him there, or... Mikaela shook her head. _We'll make it. We'll be fine._

Sure enough, they made it to the Ajinomoto National Training Center with minimal difficulties. The instructive email had told them to sign in at the front desk, where they'd be given their room keys and then directed to the main gym. Mikaela pushed her crutches in front of her, then swung herself forward, coming to rest on her good leg. "We're here," she said quietly, hobbling after Kageyama.

"We are," he murmured, shooting her a sideways glance. "You good?"

"Of course."

"I mean, are you going to..." Kageyama trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. "Are you going to be good with managing?"

She blinked. "Are you doubting my skills?"

He shook his head. "No, I mean the other players. You don't know any of them, and they're all going to be ridiculously good, and-"

Mikaela rolled her eyes and held up her hand. "I'm going to stop you right there. What do you mean, I 'don't know any of them'?" Kageyama's jaw slipped and the realization dawned over his face, but Mikaela just grinned. "Yes, of course I researched all the potential candidates coming to this camp and of course I've looked up detailed profiles on all of them. All in my notebook."

"How would you know who's coming?" Kageyama asked.

"I hacked his email."

"Kaisha!"

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding, I promise. I have no idea who else is going- except for three kids who posted about it online- so I just looked up all of the big names in the magazines and stuff." Mikaela shrugged. "Half the people I have profiles for probably aren't even here."

Kageyama looked like he wanted to say something snarky, but Mikaela's glare caused him to rethink. "How many profiles do you have?" he said cautiously.

She shrugged. "Maybe sixty?"

"Kaisha! What the hell?"

"How was I supposed to know how many people would be here?"

Kageyama slapped himself in the forehead, and Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Let's just go sign in," he grumbled, and Mikaela hobbled after him without complaint.

The building had looked impressive from the outside, and the inside certainly didn't disappoint. The front lobby was gorgeous, and Mikaela's jaw slipped at the size of the doorways and the design of the lobby itself. Several other people were already inside- there was a small line in front of front desk, and a few were waiting at the couches. "This is crazy," Mikaela whispered, and Kageyama nodded.

They moved to line up. Mikaela noticed that she was getting some weird looks- probably because she was on crutches- and she shuffled closer to her cousin subconsciously.

"Well, I can see why you're not playing."

The lobby had been almost silent up until that statement, so everyone looked up. A tall woman was walking into the lobby from one of the far doorways. She had thick brown hair in a ponytail that fell just past her shoulders and piercing green eyes, and the way she held herself made her seem intimidating and posed. She was wearing a full tracksuit and runners, and Mikaela knew she'd seen her before, _wait-_

"You're talking to me?" Mikaela squeaked, suddenly aware that her stabbing emerald gaze was directed at her.

The lady cocked an eyebrow. "Unless you see anyone else in here unfit to play." She continued to walk towards her, and Mikaela had half a mind to hightail it out of there. The lady stuck out a hand. "Hujita Yahanaba."

"I _knew_ I recognized you!" Mikaela cried, thrusting her arm forwards to shake her hand. "Coach for Japan's Women's team! Wow, it's such an honour, I'm-"

"I know who you are," she replied, smirking.

Mikaela felt like she might faint. "You do?"

"What I don't know," Hujita continued, the smirk fading off of her lips, "is why you're a manager and not a player."

Mikaela exchanged a slow look with Kageyama. He shifted so he was closer to her, moving his gaze from her to the coach. Mikaela searched for words but found that she couldn't think of any. "I mean," she stuttered, gesturing lamely with her crutch, "isn't it obvious?"

Someone behind her choked on a laugh, and when Mikaela turned around, she saw a boy with a devilish smirk on his face and bright blond hair flipped over his face- probably dyed, judging by the colour of his roots and eyebrows. She turned away just as quickly, embarrassed.

Hujita's smile was strained. "Well, maybe you'd like to explain in further depth what exactly caused you to drop off the map with no explanation. And why you're at Karasuno rather than Niiyama. Is there an up-and-coming star at Karasuno that I should know about? A coach? Something about the team?"

Mikaela was overwhelmed. She'd always dreamed of meeting this woman and being coached by her, but Hujita seemed significantly more interested in her than she was anticipating. The questions were really sudden and intrusive, and the fact that they were in front of a dozen other people (boys and girls alike) didn't help. Mikaela swallowed nervously, and was about to reply when something latched onto her elbow. Kageyama. He squeezed gently, and Mikaela was dragged back to the situation at hand.

Half of her wanted to shrink away, but the other half of her channeled the spirit of her mother.

"With all due respect, Hujita-san," Mikaela said, trying to make sure her voice never wavered, "I don't owe you any answers. That's my own private business."

Hujita's eyebrows rose to the top of her head. "Well, perhaps if you assist myself rather than Fuki, we could-"

"Help with the girls' team instead of the boys?" Mikaela clarified, and she nodded. "No. No thank you."

"Why's that? Wouldn't it be a better environment?"

Mikaela thought about Kinomi and how rude she had been to her, both during her time at Niiyama and in the infirmary room. She thought of Junior High, where her old setter was reluctant to toss to her. She thought of the rest of the Niiyama team, who tried to be helpful and kind but were often rude and pushy.

"No," she said firmly. "Definitely not." Mikaela glanced at Kageyama and tried to ignore the fact that the rest of the room was holding their breath. "Can I check in now?" she asked quietly.

Hujita pursed her lips. "Perhaps we can continue this conversation in a more private setting." She pulled a small card out of her pocket- a business card?- grabbed a pen from the desk, and scribbled something down on the card. "Once you've settled in, if you'd like, meet me in my office. I've got the room number there for you. I do have a couple things I'd like to go over with you anyways."

Mikaela reluctantly accepted the card from her. With that said, Hujita turned on her heel and marched out the way she came, back through the doorway. Whispers filled the front lobby, and Mikaela hobbled to the front of the line as quickly as she could so she could check in. Kageyama was uncharacteristically quiet beside her.

By the time they'd got their room keys and made it to the elevators, Mikaela's head was starting to clear up. The complete shock and surprise from meeting one of her idols was wearing off, and the shocking revelation that she'd been _scouting_ her was making Mikaela feel dizzy. When the elevator doors opened, she wandered in and slumped against the side and sighed as Kageyama thumbed in the button for her floor- five.

"So?" he said softly, tucking his hands in his pockets.

Mikaela didn't even want to think about it. "So what?" she said numbly.

"So, are you going to talk to her?" Kageyama asked.

"No. Maybe. I don't know." She groaned. "Look, I just wanted to come here and help out with a camp, and suddenly I find out I've been... scouted? I guess? And the woman I've dreamed of meeting has been scouting me?" Mikaela shook her head. "This feels surreal."

He nodded slowly. Then, the corners of his mouth twitched. "She scouted you," Kageyama pointed out, smirking. "She thinks you're good."

"I used to be," Mikaela said with a wry smile.

"Then explain that to her." Kageyama shrugged. "Don't waste this opportunity."

With a jolt, Mikaela realized that this was exactly what she had been preaching to Tsukishima- to go to camp and to not waste the opportunity that he had been given. _Crap._ The elevator dinged, and Mikaela pushed herself forwards. Kageyama followed. When they found her room and Mikaela fumbled with her key card before she finally managed to open the door, Kageyama held it open for her so she could hobble inside and collapse on the bed, her crutches falling in a heap to the floor.

"I'm so tired," she complained as Kageyama threw her bag down on the floor next to her.

Kageyama smirked. "Think of it as stamina training for when you get back on your feet."

There was a glint in Mikaela's eye when she turned back to look at him. "Well, when you put it that way," she teased, "I guess I should start doing marathons."

He rolled his eyes. "Of course you would." His gaze softened. "You all good? Can I go to my room?"

"Yeah, of course, don't let me hold you up," Mikaela said quickly, sitting up. "Thanks, Kags. I appreciate it."

"Text me if you need anything."

Kageyama left, leaving Mikaela to awkwardly move around the room and attempt to unpack her bag. She set it on the table and opened it, then decided that that was enough effort for today and fell back on the bed. With a sigh, Mikaela drew the business card out from her pocket and held it over her head.

 _Should I?_

The blue ink on the card from the pen Hujita used stood out against the plain black and white card. Mikaela found herself tracing the loops of her print with her finger.

 _Oh, fuck it._

She sat up, then leaned over the side of the bed to awkwardly fish for her crutches. Once she had grabbed both of them and slipped the contraptions over her elbows, she pocketed the business card into her Karasuno jacket and stood up.

Time for her to go confront her problems.

Mikaela sighed to herself, snagged her room key from the table, and hobbled to the door.

* * *

She stood in front of Hujita's office door for at least a minute before she finally mustered up the courage to knock. A polite "come in" sounded from inside the room, so Mikaela steeled herself and turned the doorknob.

Hujita's office was larger than she had expected, which surprisingly put her at ease- a smaller space would've made her feel more claustrophobic. To her surprise, there was a treadmill in the far corner of the room. Her desk was large and piled neatly with papers and folders. A corkscrew board behind Hujita's desk showed pictures of various players with strings connecting certain photos and cue cards with descriptions on them posted beneath each photo.

"Ah, Mikaela," Hujita said, standing up from her desk. "Come take a seat."

"Thanks," Mikaela murmured, sticking her crutches out in front of her and hobbling over to the seat. Hujita walked around her desk and moved to close the door behind her. When she finally sat down, Mikaela didn't take her crutches off completely- something about her role model put her on edge.

Hujita moved back to her seat and sat down, propping her elbows up on the desk. Her posture made her look intimidating, but the track suit helped to nullify how scary she seemed. "First off, I wanted to apologize," the brown-haired woman said, forcing a smile on her lips. "I shouldn't have ambushed you like that."

She was surprised by the apology, but grateful for it. "Thank you. I'm sorry if I was rude."

"Oh, not at all, I was the one that practically attacked you out of nowhere," Hujita said with a laugh. _She looks nicer when she laughs._ "Besides, it was nice to see that you're capable of standing your ground."

She flushed from the compliment. "Th- Thank you."

"Your initial awe brings me to believe that you know who I am," she said, and Mikaela nodded. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, and if you really are as much of a fan as I gathered from your first impression, then you must be thrilled to know I've been scouting you for the past year."

"I am," Mikaela agreed, finding herself more at ease. She unclipped the crutches from her elbows and slid them off, letting them rest against the desk. "To be honest, this camp has been a dream of mine since I was young. Mine and Kageyama's."

"Kageyama? The boy you were with?" Hujita asked, and she nodded. "Sibling?"

Mikaela sighed wistfully. _Oh, I wish._ "Cousin."

"Ah. You two are strikingly similar." Hujita laced her fingers and propped her elbows up on the desk, settling her chin on top of her hands. "I'll be blunt. The only reason you're here is because I recognized your name, not because Fuki was interested in your management skills. Although that is an added bonus."

Mikaela felt like she'd been slapped. _I should've expected that._ "O- Oh."

"So, if it's alright with you, I'd like to know a bit more about why you're not currently playing for the Niiyama girls' team like I thought you were."

"Well..." she trailed off, completely unsure of where to start. "Uh, first thing, thanks for letting me come to this camp." Hujita waved for her to continue. "Well... It's a long story."

Hujita's eyes shifted to the clock above the doorway. "We've got ten minutes until the boys are set to gather up in the gym. What can you tell me in ten minutes?"

"What do you want to know?"

She gestured to the crutches. "How much longer are you on those?"

 _Her first question isn't what my injury is? Huh._ "About two or three weeks, I think. Depends."

"And you'll be back to playing after that?"

Mikaela paused. "Hopefully."

Hujita didn't even dwell on her response. She leaned forward in her chair. "Why Karasuno? Last I checked, their volleyball team was nothing special. New players? New coach? Style change? Something I should be aware of?"

"Karasuno? Because Kageyama was there."

"Kageyama?" That seemed to throw a wrench in Hujita's assumptions. "Your change of schools wasn't volleyball related?"

"Oh, it was," Mikaela confirmed, leaning forward in her chair. "But I wasn't moving for new volleyball opportunities, I was moving to start over."

"Start over," Hujita repeated. "Why?"

 _Damn, it's one after the other, no pause._ Mikaela sighed, trying to calm herself down. She was getting wrapped up in Hujita's pace for the conversation and needed to shift it back to something she was comfortable with. "Hujita-san," she said softly, "no matter how hard I work, no matter if I manage to get to my previous playing level after these last few weeks of crutches, or even if I manage to surpass it, I'll never be able to play on your team."

Now _that_ successfully shut her up. Mikaela could've laughed- the dumbfounded expression on her face was priceless. "Why's that?" Hujita said quietly.

Mikaela had to suppress her grin. She was in control of the conversation now. "I had an accident," she said slowly, crossing her arms. "An accident I'll never completely recover from."

"Hence the crutches?" the coach asked. When Mikaela nodded, she pursed her lips. "Surely, broken, twisted, and sprained limbs aren't enough to keep you from playing volleyball. And these are accidents you can recover from. When was your injury? A month, two months ago?"

"Try eight. April."

"Since April?" Hujita said in surprise. "That would explain your absence in the Inter High roster. Is that when you transferred to Karasuno?"

"Roughly. I didn't actually enroll in Karasuno until early June. I spent a month and a half in the hospital."

Her jaw slipped open. "The hospital."

"Yep."

"May I inquire as to what your injury is?"

Mikaela leaned back in the chair and kicked her right leg up onto the desk. Besides Hujita's narrowed eyebrows, her expression didn't change, so Mikaela pulled up her pant leg, revealing her shiny metal prosthetic. "I lost my leg."

She pulled her leg off the desk. Now, Hujita looked more intrigued than ever. "A prosthetic," she said.

Mikaela nodded. "Did you hear about the fire in one of Niiyama's old gyms?"

"I did. What does that- _oh."_ Hujita's voice dropped. "You were there?"

"Yeah. Didn't get out in time." Mikaela's throat closed up and she felt heat behind her eyes, which was a clear sign to change the topic before tears got involved. "I just had surgery done a little over a month ago to make sure I'll be able to walk properly without the use of medication. After that, I'll see to improving my volleyball skills and seeing what level I'm at."

The coach's head bobbed in understanding. "I get that. What I don't understand is why Karasuno. Why wouldn't you just stay at Niiyama?"

"Wasn't a fan of the girls there," Mikaela said quietly, Kinomi immediately popping into her head. "Most of them were nice, but they were judgmental. I was gone for so long with no explanation and I needed a friend. Kageyama was there for me a lot, and he was the only friend I had. So I switched schools."

"I see." Hujita was silent for a moment, then she continued, "I don't see why you wouldn't be able to play on Japan's female team despite having a prosthetic."

Mikaela straightened up. "Seriously?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why not. As long as your prosthetic isn't doing anything it shouldn't be, it should be fine. I'll get in contact with the committee and find out. I don't think this sort of situation has ever come up, so as long as we can work out something, I don't see why you couldn't continue playing on national teams, or high school teams."

"You..." Mikaela was completely dumbfounded. "You'd do that for me?"

Hujita smirked. "You were one of the few players I desperately wanted to keep my eye on after Junior High. I'm not letting you slip through my fingers this time." She leaned back in her chair, her eyes flashing. "Plus, this would lead to great media coverage for the team."

Mikaela sweat-dropped. _Of course._

"Ah! I've held you up too long." Hujita stood up, and Mikaela snatched at her crutches and clipped them back around her elbows before securing her hands around the handles. "Best of luck with Fuki. Should I inform him of your situation?"

"Yes, please," Mikaela said with a grin. "Thank you so much."

Hujita smirked at her before shifting around the desk to hold open the door for her. Mikaela thanked her before hobbling down the hallway. Hujita headed the other way, presumably to talk to the other coach. Mikaela slipped inside the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor.

 _Wow._

So not only did the coach of Japan's female volleyball team want to scout her for the team, but was willing to attempt to bend rules so that she could play? Honestly, she'd just wanted to make sure that she could play throughout high school. Tournaments would be nice, but she just wanted to be on a team, regardless of whether she could play properly or not.

 _I might get to play again- officially._

"Oh my god."

Mikaela was practically bouncing when she got off the elevator. She followed the signs to the gym, and when she peered in, she noticed the boys were already gathered in the center. The gym floors weren't old wooden boards, which was something she'd grown accustomed to since she came to Karasuno. There were even large video screens at each side of the gym, showing video clips from the court. Mikaela's jaw dropped. "Damn," she muttered.

She'd looked up photos of Fuki Hibarida online, and from the looks of it, he wasn't one of the few instructors at the front of the gym. _Well, I'm certainly not going to march in there unless I know I'm welcome,_ Mikaela thought to herself.

She was probably waiting there for two minutes before she heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Mikaela straightened up as best she could when she recognized the person coming towards her. _Oh my god, it's him, holy crap-_

"You must be Mikaela Kaisha," the man said, his voice low but cheery. He held out a hand. "It's a pleasure having you this week."

Mikaela awkwardly pulled her hand out of her crutch and shook. "Fuki-san. Thank you so much for having me."

He grinned. "Not a problem. Hujita told me about your injury. I'm sorry to hear that."

It had been a while since someone had found out about her injury and said they were sorry about it. Mikaela blinked rapidly, slightly surprised. "Thank you, sir," she managed, ducking her head.

"So? What can you bring to the table in terms of management?" Fuki crossed his arms, but the cheerfulness never left his eyes. "I've got several things I can get you to do, but if you can specialize somewhere, I'll take that too."

Mikaela grinned. This was something she could answer. "I specialize in observation and data collection," she said proudly.

"Data collection?" he mused, and Mikaela nodded. "Like, player profiles?"

"Tells, quirks, anything about the player that could be seen as useful," Mikaela said eagerly, reached into her jacket pocket and pulling out her notebook. "I wasn't sure who you had coming to this camp, so I researched sixty possible people that were likely to be at this camp, so hopefully I've got most of them on record."

Fuki didn't even looked surprised or freaked out. He just raised his eyebrows. "We've only got twenty-four people in this camp."

"Then my odds are high," she joked.

His face took on an expression that she couldn't quite place, then morphed into his usual visage of cheerfulness. "Come on. I'm supposed to greet the players, then you can introduce yourself," Fuki said, heading into the gym. Mikaela started hobbling after him, tucking her notebook back into her jacket pocket and trying to be as quiet as she could so she wouldn't attract attention.

They got closer to the group without being noticed, until the man in front of the teenagers noticed them and called out, "coach, a word, if you don't mind."

"Sure, sure," Fuki said casually, and all eyes moved to him. Unfortunately, this meant that there were quite a few stares at Mikaela too. She managed to pick Kageyama out of the crowd and he nodded to her, which did very little to soothe her nerves. "I bet you're all sick of listening to us old farts talk all day, so I'll keep this short," he continued, drawing any stray eyes over to him as he stood in front of the group. Mikaela awkwardly hung back at the side. "'The Japan team crumbles before height and strength'. Folks used to love slinging the phrase around, but those days are long past. All skills and talents aren't meant to be _had,_ they are meant to be _shown."_

Mikaela smiled wryly. _If only I could do just that._

"When you go out and play the world, you give 'em hell. Alright?" He turned to glance at Mikaela briefly before turning back to the group. "Prove to them that volleyball is far more interesting than they thought." He coughed into his fist. "With that said, I'd like to introduce you all to someone who's going to be helping me out with management this week."

Fuki raised a hand at her, and Mikaela took this as her cue to hobble forward so that she was next to him. She bowed so she wouldn't have to look anyone in the eye. "I'm Mikaela Kaisha," she said firmly, trying to hide any sign of nerves in her voice. "Thank you for having me."

 _I look forward to working with you all._

 _Kind of._

Mikaela grinned to herself as Fuki rambled on with instructions. This week was going to be interesting.

* * *

 **Let's here it for procrastination! One, two... never mind, I'll do it later. ;)**

 **(I reeeeally should be packing right now- I move in tomorrow. Oops.)**

 **Swaggishima:** Sorry I never got to reply to your review last chapter- yours didn't get moderated and posted on this story until I'd already updated. Anyways, thank you! I love Kageyama too, I wish my brother was more like him xD I'm still on the fence on whether Mikaela should go back to Niiyama or not... Thank you for your review! :D

 **Skyfern:** Stalker Kaisha mode is the best Kaisha mode ;) Thanks for rereading, I'm glad you like the story so much! Thank you for your reviews! :)

 **Aominewolf:** No problem :)

 **AmIValid2:** I'm so glad you liked the past few chapters! Best of luck with your classes, and thank you for your review! :D

 **Anne Nonimus:** Your reviews always make me smile. I hope this early update made you smile too :) Thank you so much for your kind review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** The camp's not too much of a spoiler, most people already seem to know about that one. Fortunately, this chapter and the next one (possibly one more?) will be covering the camp. The real spoilers (spring tournament, matches, who faces who, who wins, etc.) won't come for at least three more chapters, I think. Hujita is my OC for the coach of Japan's womens team. I hope you like her ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kitty:** Heck yes she's going in her crutches! Poor girl, she's almost there. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **From here on out, my update schedule is going to be CRAZY. The next update could be in three days, or three weeks, or maybe even three months. I have no idea how university is going to treat me and if I'm going to have any free time on my hands at all.**

 **Thank you all for sticking with me so far. You mean so much to me.**

 **I love you all. See you soon.**

 **:D**


	40. The All-Japan Youth Camp

**Thank you so so SO much to Sayori1412, Coolfire30, Swaggishima, Kitty, AomineWolf, TheListlessWriter, Kitty, Shadow Wolf 15846, PheonixBird06, Dewcloud, AmIValid2, jily shiper, Scarletdewdrop, Vasunshinegrl96, ZoraShah, BookwormRuthie, SparklySuu, SilverWolf765, gayesthumanalive, Fastreader101, GaarasLegendaryEyebrows, Stawps, Asphodel Fields Production, ciaphantom, Aivythewaffle, and Naixira-chan for your support! Thank you! :D**

* * *

Mikaela picked up on a couple things quite quickly in just the first scrimmage of the camp.

One, the level of playing ability was higher than she anticipated.

Two, her player profiles covered twenty two of the twenty four players.

Three, Kageyama had become a player of habit, and it showed. Badly.

For example, not even five minutes into the first practice set of camp did Kageyama try to set a ball up for a non-existent spiker, and when no one was there to hit the ball, he had the nerve to look surprised. Mikaela slapped herself in the forehead. He'd gotten so used to tossing to Hinata, who was already in the air and ready to spike by the time Kageyama had the ball at his fingertips.

"Sorry," Kageyama said quickly, apologizing to his team before moving back to his position. The rest of his teammates glanced around warily- probably confused. Mikaela sighed to herself and jotted a couple more notes down on her page. She'd made a player profile for Kageyama, but not much was on it, considering she knew her cousin inside and out.

The teams eventually wrapped up, and Mikaela was arms full with useful information on almost every player. The players started their cool down stretches, and Fuki approached Mikaela with a glint in his eye. "You seem excited," he said with a chuckle.

Mikaela nodded vigorously, leaning against the wall and pulling out her notebook. "Every player's so different, I've got so much to write down."

"Anything you already expected?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, a couple tells and such that I picked up before coming to camp. Some are minor but others are pretty big."

"Like the way Surotu looks where he's hitting before every spike?"

"Yep! If it wasn't for his power, he'd be pretty bad."

The words tumbled out of her mouth before she realized, and before Mikaela could apologize for her rudeness, Fuki laughed. "I suppose so," he mused, crossing his arms. "I suppose so."

He walked away, leaving Mikaela to grin to herself and start jotting down notes in her book. Some of the more social volleyball players were striking up conversation with each other during their cool down, and Mikaela found herself wanting to rant to Kageyama about all she discovered. She pursed her lips and kept writing; if she got chummy with Kageyama, she'd ruin her chances of staying in the good graces of the coaches rather than doing her job. Besides, she was here to manage, not gossip, right?

To her surprise (and delight), someone actually went up to Kageyama and tried to strike up a conversation. Mikaela grinned when she realized who it was- Chigaya Eikichi, a lefty middle blocker on Shinzen High's volleyball team. He was the one who needed tape for his fingers, and he'd been the reason that Mikaela and Tsukishima had to leave the camp in the evening. He was a nice guy, and a good player.

The players went to dinner, and Mikaela wasn't sure where she was supposed to go until Fuki clapped her on the shoulder and she nearly flinched. "Normally, I'd make you sit with us so we can discuss what you picked up today," he said with a cheeky grin, "but I'm sure your notebook covers everything you could possibly tell us. If you want, just pass off the notebook, and you can eat dinner with your cousin."

Her face lit up. "Really? Thank you so much!"

"We'll definitely need a conversation later though," Fuki said with a laugh. "You okay with that?"

"Y- Yes! Please! Thank you so much!" Mikaela stammered, thrusting her notebook at him.

He grinned and took the small book from her. "Can't wait to read it. I'll find you after dinner."

"Thank you so much, sir," Mikaela rushed out, awkwardly bowing (it was kind of hard with crutches). "Thank you so much." He waved her off, so she turned and started hobbling towards the table that Kageyama had sat down at. Chigaya, the Shinzen player, was sitting with him.

"Kaisha," Kageyama said in surprise, a smile tugging at his lips. "Hey."

"Coach said as long as I give him my notebook, I'm good to eat with you guys," she said cheerily, sitting herself down and leaning her crutches against the table. She turned to the other boy. "You're the tape kid from the training camp," Mikaela teased. _I'm in such a good mood, this is so bizarre._

"Kai, you got dinner yet?" Kageyama interrupted.

"Nope, I'll go get it in a sec-" The setter stood up, cutting Mikaela off. "Oi, Tobio, I can get my own food," she snapped, but Kageyama just glared at her and moved to the buffet line to get her food. She sighed, secretly grateful, and turned back to Chigaya. "As I was saying, you're tape kid."

Chigaya grinned. "Yeah, you're Karasuno's manager, right?"

"Yep!" She stuck out her hand. "Mikaela Kaisha."

"Chigaya Eikichi," he replied, shaking her hand. "Though I guess you know that already."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've heard a bit of a rumor about you being a super stalker."

Mikaela groaned and rolled her eyes. "Seriously? How'd that get started?"

"Is it true?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

She shrugged sheepishly. "Kind of? Maybe a bit." Chigaya cocked his head, and she sighed, slumping against the table. "Okay, fine, yes, I'm a professional stalker. I know absolutely everything about you." Mikaela threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "It's kind of hard to make friends if people think you're a stalker."

Chigaya laughed. "Well, right now, you're the only other one I know besides your brother."

Kageyama came back at that moment and put her food tray down in front of her. She thanked him quietly, and he stared at her pointedly, like he expected her to correct him. Eventually, she did. "Actually, we're not siblings," she admitted, rubbing the back of her head. "He's my cousin."

His eyes widened. "But you both look so much alike!"

"We get that a lot," Kageyama muttered, diving into his own tray of food. Mikaela rolled her eyes.

Chigaya was about to say something else when someone caught Mikaela's eye. Someone was walking towards their table- a tall guys with dark hair longer than most of the other guys at camp and a mask covering his face. Despite the comfortable temperature, he was wearing a heavy jacket and pants. _Sakusa Kiyoomi- one of the top three aces in the country._ Mikaela immediately straightened up.

"I haven't watched the tape yet," he said softly, his gaze entirely focused on Kageyama, "but how come Shiratorizawa lost? Was Wakatoshi-kun injured or something?"

Kageyama shrugged. "He looked like he was in perfect form to me."

"Huh?" Sakusa looked bothered and leaned forwards slightly. "Then how'd he lose? What trick did you use? Or what? Did someone actually stuff him?"

Mikaela wanted to interrupt, but instead she shrunk back and let Kageyama handle it. She'd had enough attention on her this morning from the encounter with Hujita. "Well," Kageyama said slowly, "yeah, someone did stuff him."

Sakusa looked peeved. Mikaela almost laughed. "Who was it? What year is he? What's his name? What-"

"Hey!" A boy with light hair and a grin on his face popped into the conversation, effectively cutting Sakusa off from his interrogation. Mikaela immediately recognized him- Motoya Komori, the number one high school libero in Japan. _Wow._ "Sorry about this, this guy is literally the most pessimistic person you'll find on the whole planet. As soon as he thinks somebody might be a threat to him, he just has to know all he can about them!"

Chigaya laughed. "Then you may want to talk to Mikaela here, she knows everything about everyone!"

Mikaela wanted to smack him upside the head. _Way to introduce me into the conversation!_ She shrank down further into her seat, praying that Sakusa and Motoya would ignore what he said.

Unfortunately, Motoya heard him. "Hm?" He looked up, apparently noticing Mikaela for the first time. "Oh, hey! You're even cuter up close!"

Kageyama choked on his food. Mikaela wanted to reply but felt her tongue clog up in her throat. Her face went cherry red, and she couldn't even find the words to reply. It wasn't like Terushima, the Johzenji captain; he was rude with his compliments in a playboy sort of way. Motoya was completely genuine in his words with no malicious intent behind the compliment. "Th- Thanks?" she managed.

"Knows everything about everyone?" Sakusa muttered, narrowing his eyes at her.

 _God,_ she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. This was so embarrassing. "I'm a manager for Karasuno," she forced out, trying not to trip over her words. "I- I'm good at data collection."

"So, stats?" Motoya asked, cocking his head.

"Kinda," she replied with a shrug. Mikaela leaned back in her chair, trying to ease herself into the conversation. "I get stats, and then I look for anything in a player's form or movement that's either off or gives away what they're doing next."

Motoya's face lit up. "Cool! So do you already know everyone here?"

"Well, I know _of_ them," Mikaela said awkwardly, shrugging. "I don't really know anyone besides Kageyama, I guess." She glanced at Chigaya and he frowned at her. "Well, I guess I know Chigaya too," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"And now you know me!" Motoya thrust out his hand, grinning. "Motoya Komori, pleasure to meet you. You're Mika?"

"Mikaela," she corrected quickly, not willing to get another nickname revolving around 'Mika'. "Mikaela Kaisha."

Motoya seemed to take that as his cue to take a seat. Sakusa reluctantly sat down next to him, eyeing Kageyama warily. "So, are you foreign?" Motoya asked. "Your name doesn't sound completely Japanese."

"My dad-" Her voice caught in her throat. She coughed awkwardly into her elbow. "Canadian. Japanese family that lives in Canada."

"You've been to Canada?" Chigaya asked, surprised.

She shrugged. "Once, when I was too young to remember."

Motoya grinned. "I took a trip to the United States once!"

"How was it?" Chigaya asked.

Sakusa snorted quietly. "He didn't shut up about it for a month after." Mikaela was kind of surprised; she hadn't expected Sakusa to actually participate in the conversation. Kageyama, predictably, wasn't very talkative.

Motoya made a face. "Hey, it was a fun trip. It's not my fault you never leave your house."

"Well, he's here, isn't he?" Kageyama asked.

Chigaya chuckled. "True." There was a bit of a pause, then he turned to Mikaela. _Damn it, just leave me out of the conversation._ "So, last time I saw you, you weren't on crutches," he said lightly. "What'd you do?" Motoya leaned forward, apparently interested.

She saw Kageyama stiffen out of the corner of her eye. Mikaela sighed. "Surgery."

Their eyes went wide. Even Sakusa looked slightly interested. "Surgery?" Motoya said loudly, and Mikaela wanted to smack him with her crutch. "Damn. What-"

"Why're you here?"

Mikaela nearly jumped when Sakusa spoke up. "S- Sorry, what?"

"Why are you here?" he repeated.

"M- Management. I'm just here to stat keep and observe, I guess."

Chigaya punched her lightly in the shoulder. "She's an expert manager from what I've heard."

"Shut it!" she hissed, shoving his arm away and forcing a glare onto her face. He sighed and put his hands up in mock surrender, smirking.

"Expert?" Motoya said, cocking his head. "Is there such thing as an expert manager?"

"Look," Mikaela said sharply, ready to change topics, "I'm just the secondary manager for Karasuno. I look stuff up about the teams we face and the players on the team. That's it, nothing special."

"Did you do research for this camp?" Motoya asked.

Mikaela didn't like where this was going but she didn't want to lie. "...Yes?"

"You researched players?" Sakusa asked, glaring at her from behind his mask.

She wanted to _die._ "...Yes?"

"So you know all about us!" Motoya said with a cheesy grin, leaning onto the table. "Whatcha find about me?"

"And me," Chigaya added, leaning forwards.

Mikaela was about to excuse herself or throw something as a distraction (maybe both) when someone else came up to their table. He was the blond boy from this morning, the one who was laughing at her when she was talking to Hujita. Oh, she knew who he was. Miya Atsumu- twin brother to Miya Osamu, whom she had expected at this camp. He was a second year setter, and he was crazy good. He also had a ridiculous fan base- similar to Oikawa.

Despite his looks and talent, there was something about the interviews she saw and the way he held himself and the way he smirked that put Mikaela on edge. "How about me, sweetheart? Find anything good?" he teased, nearly making her jump. He had come from behind her so she hadn't even noticed him until he spoke up.

 _Terushima._ He reminded her a bit of the playboy Johzenji captain.

He also reminded her a bit of Oikawa, but Oikawa never tried to flirt with her. Not like this.

Kageyama looked like he was ready to stand up and do something he'd regret, but Mikaela kicked him with her good leg. "Actually, yes," she said, forcing as much sweetness into her voice as she could muster. "You're quite something."

Miya Atsumu raised his eyebrows and grinned. "Yeah? Whatcha got, darling?"

Her expression immediately flipped from one of sweetness to complete disgust. Her voice went entirely deadpan. "You're a dick," she said simply.

This time, Kageyama, Motoya, _and_ Chigaya all choked on their food. Sakusa watched on as his teammate coughed, trying to get rid of whatever was in his throat. Kageyama swallowed hard and shot Mikaela a surprised but pleased look. Chigaya looked like he wasn't sure whether to be impressed or terrified.

The setter stared at her with a blank expression on his face, like that was clearly not how he expected that to go, but he snapped out of it just as quickly. "Well, I guess I was wrong then," Miya said with a chuckle, shrugging casually. "Here I was thinking you'd be a pushover after your conversation with the coach of the women's team."

Kageyama snorted, and Miya's gaze turned to him in surprise. "Nothing," he muttered, reaching out to grab his cup.

Miya turned back to her and Mikaela resisted the urge to punch him. "Well, darling-"

"Don't," she snapped.

"My bad," he amended, "anyways, what did you say your name was? Mikaela? If you're so special that the captain of Japan's female team is trying to recruit you even though you're injured and it was clear she didn't know what it was about, you _must_ be good."

He had a teasing smirk on his face, and Mikaela was starting to lose all the confidence she had going into this confrontation. _He's an asshole, Kaisha, don't listen to a thing he says._ She bit her tongue.

"You're a player?" Motoya asked, but Mikaela couldn't even look at him- she was twisted around to face Miya. "Really?"

"You're not the only one good at data collection," he taunted softly, and Mikaela felt goosebumps appear on her skin. "I betcha I can find out a ton of wonderful details about you~"

She sucked up the last bits of her courage and forced herself to shrug. "Like I said," she said casually, "you're a dick."

"Takes an asshole to know an asshole, sweetheart."

There was a screech of a moving chair, and Kageyama stood up from his seat, food forgotten. "Hey, back off," he warned, glaring at Miya.

Miya grinned coyly. "I see your goody-two-shoes brother over here has some bite too." He did, however, back off and slide backwards. "Have a good night," he said loudly with a smirk on his face as he turned away. Kageyama sat back down, his eyes never leaving the setter as he left. Mikaela glared at his back until he was out of site, around the corner of the cafeteria and down the hallway. Their table of five was quiet for a moment after he left, awkwardly staring at the door that he used.

Maybe thirty seconds of awkward silence passed until Mikaela said quietly, "I'm going to bed." She reached for her crutches and pushed herself up. Kageyama immediately stood up again to try and help, but she waved him off. "I'll be fine."

Kageyama knew better than to try and stop her. He slowly sat back down as Mikaela hauled herself away, making a beeline for the furthest doorway. She heard Motoya say, "is she okay?"

Blinking tears from her eyes, Mikaela turned the corner.

* * *

"So, Mikaela," Fuki said slowly. "Your notes were..."

She sighed. "A bit too much, right? My teammates tell me that."

He chuckled. Day two was well underway and it looked like the boys were enjoying themselves. There was a cheer from the court as team A won a long rally. They had split up in teams to scrimmage once again, and Mikaela hadn't even tried to speak to Kageyama this morning. Motoya looked like he'd wanted to say hi but she breezed right by him. She hadn't slept overly well, so her moodiness had only gotten worse.

"There were very in depth," Fuki agreed, his eyes following the serve to start the next point. "I'm not sure I want to know how you accessed a lot of the information you had."

"I totally forgot I had relationship statuses, grades, and home life in there," Mikaela amended, shrugging sheepishly. "I would've taken those out if I had the chance."

"Regardless, your information concerning their play style was good." She straightened up, grateful for the compliment. He smirked slightly. "You actually picked up on a couple things that my team and I didn't get yesterday. You've got quite the set of eyes."

"Th- Thank you sir."

He hummed to himself. "I hadn't noticed that Sumuri clenches his other hand into a fist when he switches from a spike to a tip. That's something you can't always catch."

Mikaela shook her head. "Well, it's not very useful, really."

"Everything you had in that book is useful information, Mikaela," Fuki said with a grin, "even the school marks and relationships."

"That's a joke, right?"

His grin widened, and he wandered away to go and talk to one of the other people helping out at the court. Mikaela grinned to herself- he liked her book!- and turned back to the game, clutching the clipboard close to her chest. It was a schedule for the day, but she already had jot notes at the bottom of the page concerning the playing styles of various players.

Kageyama had absolutely no problem syncing up with Chigaya despite him being left-handed, and Mikaela wasn't even surprised in the slightest. Some of the coaches seemed impressed by his quick synchronization, and Mikaela wanted to jump in front of them and scream that it was because of her, but obviously, she restrained herself.

Maybe halfway through the rally, some of the players subbed out to take a break and others subbed in. Mikaela glanced up and accidentally locked eyes with Miya Atsumu. Before she could look away, he winked at her and tilted his head back, spraying water from his water bottle into his mouth. She flushed and turned the other way.

Practice continued. Mikaela took more notes.

After what felt like forever had passed, lunch arrived. Mikaela didn't even hesitate- she went with Fuki to lunch to discuss portions of her notebook that she wasn't sure he could understand. Besides, he had just said there were parts that he wanted to go over.

She just really didn't want to be confronted right now.

Lunch time was productive. She shared her thoughts and Fuki listened, then added his own ideas and brought up stuff she hadn't thought of. He took notes, she took notes, and they both consulted several of the other volunteer coaches that were helping out. It was useful information and Mikaela was surprised how much she was learning about volleyball just by learning about other players.

"So, Mikaela," Fuki said, shutting his notebook, "I'd say you got a lot done with barely one full day of camp."

She shrugged sheepishly. "Thank you. It doesn't really feel like work."

He hummed. "That, I understand. I believe Hujita told you that the only reason you were here was because she wanted to know why you weren't a player?" Mikaela sighed and slumped, and Fuki chuckled. "I guess so. Well, Mikaela, I hope you really that you've been quite a benefit to me during your time here already, and we still have several days to go. I'm grateful for your work."

"I'm grateful for the opportunity," she said quickly, pride swelling in her chest. "I really owe you and Hujita-san. This has been awesome."

"Has it? Are you getting along with the boys?"

Mikaela's happy, prideful aura immediately twisted into depressing gloom. "Kind of," she muttered, crossing her arms.

Fuki laughed. "How so?"

"Well, I get along with Kageyama fine, obviously," she started, knitting her eyebrows together, "and even Chigaya is nice, I already knew him. I didn't really expect to be bombarded by Sakusa and Motoya yesterday, though." Mikaela shrugged. "I mean, they're good company, I guess, even if they are pretty much polar opposites."

"You can say that again," the coach agreed.

"And..." Mikaela sunk further into her seat, biting her lip. "Miya Atsumu," she mumbled under her breath.

Fuki leaned across the table. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"Miya Atsumu," she repeated, trying to be louder. "He..." Mikaela went quiet for a moment then groaned loudly, leaning forward and knocking her head against the table. "He's such a pain," she complained, tilting her head to the side so that her cheek was squashed against the desk. "He picked on Kageyama and I and then said he was going to look up information on me. He's going to know _everything._ He's such a dick."

"What's wrong with him knowing everything?" Fuki asked softly, a smirk still on his face.

Mikaela lifted herself from the desk and threw her hands in the air. "Well, it's none of his business! It's not important!"

"You don't think so?"

She paused. She made eye contact with the coach and shook her head. "Well, not really. It's not like my fake leg is overly exciting."

Fuki's eyes widened. "On the contrary, that's one of the most interesting things I've heard about all week. Perhaps you should stop thinking of it as a symbol of weakness and rather one of... hope?"

Mikaela blinked. "Hope?"

He nodded. "Despite the gravest injuries, you're living proof that we can still find ways to play."

"I..." Her mouth went dry. "I guess I never thought of it like that."

"Quite the pessimist, aren't you?" Fuki stood up from his spot and headed towards the exit. "We still have half a day. You're free to eat dinner with the boys."

"Coach?" Mikaela called out. He turned. "Permission to throw my crutches at someone?"

Fuki grinned. "Provided the person deserves it."

Her grin widened and she clapped her hands together. "You're awesome! Thanks, coach!"

With a laugh, the coach left the room, not bothering to shut the door behind him. Mikaela beamed to herself and started gathering her crutches when someone coughed from across the table. "Excuse me?" one of the volunteers said softly, his eyes wide. "Do you actually have a fake leg?"

 _Huh, I forgot they were in the room._ "Yep," she said proudly, pushing herself to her feet. "It's fucking awesome."

Another second later, she was hobbling at full speed out of the lunch room, suddenly very excited to get to dinner.

* * *

 **Good LORD I have no idea if half of these characters are in character because they haven't been featured enough uggggggh (I think Miya's okay because he's known for trying to get under people's skin but all I know about Sakusa is that he's an overpowered introverted recluse and he hates germs, and Motoya's a professional but excitable guy who keeps Sakusa company. Help.)**

 **Hello friends! How have you been? School is actually so good right now I've met so many amazing people!**

 **Sayori1412:** Ushijima, Oikawa, Bokuto, and Kuroo would be great to put in this camp if they were in the right age range. This camp is for first and second year students- it's actually mentioned that Ushijima went to the camp frequently. I don't know about the others, it's never explicitly stated. I hope you're enjoying this! Don't get too many ideas about the new characters that have been introduced; I'm flushing them out a lot more than they have been in the manga ;) Thank you as always for your review! :)

 **PheonixBird06:** I'm so happy you like my writing style! I know sometimes certain ways of writing just don't work for people but I'm glad mine works for you. Thank you kindly for your review :D

 **AmIValid2:** Oof, that's a lot of hours. Best of luck to you! Thank you so much for your review, I'm glad you still enjoy reading this in your free time. Thank you for your review! :)

 **jily shiper:** Eh I updated three times within a week, I was surprised with myself too xD Oh yeah, everyone's been totally understanding and I haven't gotten any pathetic threats like I did with one of my other stories xD This fandom is surprisingly mature! Anywho I'll PM you soon, hope you're doing well, thank you for your review :D :D :D

 **Kitty:** "my little Mika chan" I see you've adopted this character like I have XD Joint custody? ;) Thank you so so much for your lovely review! :D

 **Dewcloud:** Camp is fun, stressful, educational, and everything in between, which Mikaela is finding out very quickly. Thank you for the well wishes! I'm doing quite well at school. Thank you very much for your review :)

 **Coolfire30:** Dude(tte?), I feel that. Honestly, Mikaela's been through so much and now I'm trying to make sure some things go right. Originally when I was going to throw her into the training camp arc, I had it all planned that she'd be a manager, and then I realized, crap, why would they just take some random application? No one reasonable would do that. So I added that twist not only to give Mikaela a viable reason for being at this camp but also to give her another opportunity for her future. No regrets. Anyhow, thank you kindly for your review, it really made me smile :)

 **TheListlessWriter:** Honestly, I get that way about so many stories- I just keep reading and reading and then suddenly BAM there's nothing left and I'm left emotionally ruined. I'll try to keep updating this- I have full intentions of completing this story as the manga goes! I'm so glad you enjoying this! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **AomineWolf:** Now ;)

 **Swaggishima:** I guess we'll have to wait and see ;) (even I don't know what school I want her to go to yet help) Thank you for your review! :D

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Me too aha XD Thank you so much for your review!

 **KIDS I have an actual dilemma and I need second opinions because this is definitely going to impact how the rest of the story will go:**

 **I have no idea what to do about where Mikaela is going to go for her second year. Let's face it, Karasuno's female volleyball team isn't stellar (though they have the potential to be) and Niiyama is definitely the better choice in terms of her athletics, especially with her reputation as it is. She'd have more friends at Karasuno, sure, and she loves being the manager, but in terms of future growth, Niiyama would be where she grows as a player. She's not going to get much better at Karasuno. On the other hand, the Niiyama girls weren't all that nice? Some of them were gems, sure, and if Mikaela sucks it up I'm sure she could be friends with them, easily.**

 **I don't know. I've never been so conflicted about a plot point in my life.**

 **Any suggestions you have would be wonderful. I know all of us are dying for her to stay at Karasuno (TsukiMika, am I right?) but if anyone has any serious opinions regarding her future, please feel free to share.**

 **So much love for you all.**


	41. The Crutches

**Wow. I'm speechless. Thank you so much to Sayori1412, hannymae, Monxu Aki, Swaggishima, Kitty, ShyStars, PenguinOtaku, Aominewolf, Tribble. Chan, cowuniversity, ArchimedesAckermann, SparklySuu, jily shiper, Anne Nonimus, losermuch, RaccoonJess, spooked. wolf, Aevun, Alessia Kibono, and I - M - G - M for your support! :)**

* * *

Mikaela was in a significantly better mood for the afternoon scrimmages. Something about her talk with Fuki had sparked something in her and now Mikaela was trying to decide what to do with this newfound motivation.

She'd always been sure that her prosthetic would be an indicator for pity. She didn't want sad stares, or the pitiful "oh, I'm so sorry", or the wary eyes when she did anything physical. No matter how much she had protested that she was okay, people still kept an extra eye on her. Hell, even Kageyama had been intolerable in the beginning; he was by her side with every move she made like he was afraid she'd fall over.

Sure, one part of Mikaela appreciated the concern, but the other part of her just wanted to be treated like normal.

Whatever 'normal' was, anyways.

She leaned back against the wall and tapped the pen against her chin as she glared at her notes. If there was one person she was determined to get a 'tell' for, it was Miya Atsumu. That jerk had freaked her out yesterday and had been nothing but annoyingly cocky, so Mikaela was more than ready to expose him. She'd hunted through magazines and videos for details but had come up short so far.

"Server up!" someone called, and Mikaela's gaze trailed back to the match where her least favourite setter was going up to serve.

The fun thing about Miya was that he'd mastered both types of serves- jump serves and float serves. It was powerful, especially since you couldn't tell what was coming, and both were hard to receive. Not only was he a top-notch setter but one of the best servers in the country.

Miya ran and jumped, and the ball rocketed into a wicked spike serve that hit the back line. Miya pumped his fist and his team congratulated him, and Mikaela sighed. He was like Oikawa on steroids. Kageyama, who was on the other team, made eye contact with Mikaela and shrugged. There was no getting that one.

The teams shuffled back into position, and Miya went back up to serve. Kageyama was in the front row on the receiving side, so he moved towards the net, glaring intensely at Miya. The server moved four steps away from the service line, then turned to face the net. "Server up," someone shouted.

Mikaela narrowed her eyes. _He's not as far back as he was before._

Miya jumped, and Mikaela could tell as soon as the ball hit his palm that it was a jump floater. _There's something about the steps. Holy crap, there's something about the steps! Holy crap!_ She was so startled by the revelation that she accidentally said, "wait!" out loud as she was scribbling stuff down. _If Kageyama's team gets the point, then Miya won't serve, and I won't get to test my theory-_

Naturally, no one paid her any attention, but Kageyama did.

The serve had been received, but it wasn't pretty. One of the players made a great dive to get the second hit, sending the ball soaring towards Kageyama. "Last hit!" someone called, and Kageyama set up to spike the ball.

His midnight blue eyes met her matching ones, and she could've sworn that something passed between them. Kageyama jumped as the blockers on the other team went up. The blockers were good, sure, but it was nothing Kageyama couldn't handle. So Mikaela was pretty surprised when his spike hit the blockers' arms and fell down to the court.

"My bad," Kageyama said, waving a hand in apology. Miya's team moved into a huddle to celebrate the point.

"It was a good block," one of Kageyama's team mates consoled, patting him on the back. "We'll get the next one."

He nodded and moved to position, then turned and locked eyes with her. Mikaela's face split into a grin- he had lost that point on purpose so she could watch the serve again. Christ, had he read her mind?

"Tobio," she called, drawing plenty of stares from the court. "You could've had that."

He smirked. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Mikaela hummed, eyes drifting to Miya as he went up to serve. To an onlooker, the conversation seemed perfectly normal. But to her surprise, Miya was frowning at her through narrowed eyes. She cocked an eyebrow at him and he smirked, turning away.

She counted his steps. One, two, three, four, five, six. Jump serve?

He served. Jump serve.

Mikaela's pen flew across her notebook, eagerly writing down her new realization. She didn't even notice how Kageyama's team won the point, because as soon as the point was over, she pointed at Miya Atsumu. "You!"

He glanced at her and quirked an eyebrow. "Me?"

"I got you!" she announced proudly, grinning like a maniac. "I finally got you, you slimy annoying jerk."

Several of the players on the court seemed surprised, appalled, or dumbfounded by her proclamation, but Miya was smirking slightly. He understood. Mikaela's grin didn't fade, even when he said, "maybe," and shifted back into position.

Mikaela could've cackled. _Gotcha._

* * *

Miya watched the manager tuck her notebook into her jacket pocket and take hold of her crutches, hobbling away from the court and towards the coaches. Had she really managed to pick up his serving steps? That was fast. He'd only been up to serve three times, that was barely long enough to test and prove a theory...

Wait.

He jerked his head up, his eyes glaring holes into the back of Kageyama's head.

 _Did he lose that point on purpose so she could watch me serve one more time?_

It had been suspicious to begin with. Kageyama was a good player, and losing to a mediocre block was possible, sure, but he had been expecting more. Losing on purpose made more sense- but how had he known that she was watching his serve? How?

...Were they telepathic? Some twins were, right? Not him and Osamu, but still.

Miya smirked to himself.

"Guess you're not so much of a goody-two-shoes as I thought."

* * *

"So, did you get what you were looking for?"

Mikaela's grin was wide across her face when she answered. "Tobio, I love you so much, that was perfect."

He shrugged, sitting down next to her and setting his dinner tray on the table. "It was just a point."

The afternoon scrimmages were over and dinner was up, and the starving athletes were practically attacking the buffet table. Mikaela, as a manager, had gotten to the table first while the players were doing their debrief, so she also had her pick of tables. Kageyama had come to sit with her as soon as he had gotten his food, and she could've sworn she saw Chigaya heading their way.

"It was more than a point," Mikaela argued, shoveling more food into her mouth. "I figured out how to tell what type of serve he's doing."

Kageyama nodded. "I figured that was what it was."

"You're a blessing."

"Thanks?"

"Hey, Kageyama, Mikaela," Chigaya greeted, sitting himself down next to Kageyama. "How'd your day go?"

"Great," Mikaela said triumphantly, grabbing some of the meat on her plate with her chopsticks. "I got some good data today, and I had a great talk with the coach."

"Coach Fuki-san?" Kageyama asked. Mikaela nodded. "What'd he say?"

"We were talking about my prosthetic leg and how I wanted to keep it a secret," she replied.

There was a pause at the table as Chigaya's chopsticks clattered against his plate. His jaw dropped. "Your _what,_ sorry?" he managed.

"Prosthetic leg," Mikaela confirmed cheerily, glancing at his plate. "You gonna eat that?"

His jaw only dropped more, so Mikaela took it as silent confirmation and reached over to steal a rice ball off of his plate. "Hold up," Chigaya said finally, looking from Kageyama to Mikaela to the crutches balanced against the table, "you have a prosthetic?"

"Yep!"

"So you're..." he trailed off. "Missing half of your leg?"

"From the knee under," Mikaela clarified through a mouthful of rice. She waved her chopsticks by her head. "Not a big deal."

 _"Not a big-"_

Kageyama interrupted, clearly unbothered by Chigaya's disbelief and confusion. "What'd he say that made you turn around like that?" he asked softly, quirking an eyebrow. "I thought you were more..."

"Closed off about it?" she finished, and he nodded. Mikaela shrugged. "Well, I was complaining to him about that jerk Miya and how he said he'd look up information on me and he'd find out I have a prosthetic, so I was freaking out, but..." Mikaela pinched her lips together, then sighed. "To paraphrase what he said, I shouldn't feel ashamed about it. He was saying that it's actually kind of... hopeful? You know? Like, even with permanent injuries we can find ways to play?"

The table was quiet for a moment until Kageyama said quietly, "I'm glad you finally realized."

She frowned. "What'd you mean? Realized? You knew?"

"Of course," he said with a shrug, averting his gaze. "No one for a second thought less of you because your leg's not all there. You were kind of..." Kageyama coughed awkwardly, and Mikaela saw his cheeks tinge pink. "You're inspiring," he murmured. "For me. And lots of people."

Mikaela didn't know what to say. Something in her chest twisted. "I inspire you?" she whispered.

Kageyama kept glaring at his plate. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have listened?" He cocked his head up so that he finally met her eyes. "Coming from me, you would've assumed I was just trying to make you feel better. You needed to hear it from someone you looked up to."

Mikaela's mouth opened but no sound came out. Eventually, she found her words. "I- I look up to you, though."

His head jerked up. "Really?"

"More than anyone else."

Kageyama's lips twitched until it almost looked like he was smiling. "I guess that makes two of us."

They sat there in silence, smiling softly at each other with pink cheeks (and in Mikaela's case, watery eyes) until they heard an awkward cough. Mikaela and Kageyama snapped back to reality to look at Chigaya, who was wiping at his eyes. "That was so beautiful," he said shakily, shoveling more food into his mouth. "You two are both so inspiring."

 _I forgot he was there._ Mikaela managed an awkward smile and went back to her food, her heart a bit more full than it was a minute ago.

They continued their meal in silence for another minute until Chigaya looked up from his food. "So. A fake leg?"

Mikaela might've groaned any other day, but she was in such a good mood that she just grinned. "Yep. Wanna see?"

"You're being really forward about this," Kageyama said, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "Well, if people are gonna find out at some point, I want to be there to see their eyes bug out of their heads."

There was a pause as Kageyama digested what she had said. "Makes sense," he said eventually, turning back to his plate. "I guess."

Mikaela rolled her eyes and reached down, ready to grab the hem of her pant leg and pull it up so she could show Chigaya. Suddenly, it felt like a hand had clamped around her heart. She swallowed nervously- despite all her newfound bravado and her I-don't-care attitude that she'd adopted for the past few hours, there was still something about showing it off in a room full of people that made her skin crawl.

She shook her head. _It's fine. I just need to ignore the people in the room. They don't exist. They don't-_

"Hey, can we sit?"

Mikaela jerked her head up so fast that she nearly smacked it off the table. Motoya and Sakusa were standing by the table (although it almost looked like Sakusa was hiding behind Motoya) and both were holding trays piled with food. _I guess constant volleyball makes people really hungry._ She glanced around at the other two boys, but they were both looking at her for permission. "Sure," she agreed, sitting up straight and gesturing to the table.

"Thanks!" Motoya chirped, sliding into the seat on the other side of Mikaela. Sakusa sat down on the libero's other side, next to Chigaya, successfully filling up the table. Mikaela glanced at Chigaya, who still had an eye on her. She glared at him and he went back to his food.

Kageyama didn't seem bothered, although Sakusa looked mildly uncomfortable. He kept shifting his chair further and further from the table and looking around anxiously. From what Mikaela had gathered about him, he hated crowds. And germs. And a lot of other things.

Motoya sighed. "Wow, only a few days in and I'm already super tired. How about you guys?"

"Yeah," Chigaya said, slumping in his seat. "I don't know how I'm supposed to survive until Sunday."

"I'm fine," Kageyama said with a shrug.

Mikaela punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Of course you are, you superhuman."

"Superhuman?" Sakusa asked suspiciously.

Motoya grinned. "Just an expression," he said, shaking his head. "She doesn't mean it."

"No- No, of course I don't mean it like that," she defended quickly, surprised that the ace was taking her so literally. "No superhumans here." She shared a quick confused glance with Kageyama. "He's just really crazy about volleyball."

Kageyama shrugged. "Yeah."

There was a bit of a pause at the table, and from the looks of it, Motoya had something he wanted to say. He kept glancing up at her, then at Sakusa, then returning to his plate. Mikaela bit her lip; she could guess where this was going to go. "Just say it," she said tiredly.

All four boys looked up at her. "Say what?" Chigaya asked, confused.

Motoya chuckled. "You really are observant, huh."

Sakusa's eyebrows knitted together. "What?"

"This is about dinner last night, isn't it?" she asked, keeping her expression neutral and her eyes on Motoya.

He nodded. "Miya-kun said some things that, well, piqued my curiosity." Mikaela raised her eyebrows, waiting for him to get to the point. "You totally don't have to answer if you don't want-"

"I'm in a good mood," she interrupted, shrugging. "I'll probably answer."

"Really?"

"Sure."

The libero dropped his chopsticks onto his tray and propped his elbows up on the table, lacing his fingers together and settling his chin on top of his hands. "Alright then," Motoya said, leaning forwards. "Miya-kun mentioned you're a player."

This was so similar to other conversations that she'd had that Mikaela was already wondering how she could spice this up and make it more interesting. "Yep."

"And now you're not."

"Nope." _I'm liking the yes or no questions._

"What position did you play?"

Her lips twitched into a smirk. "Actually, I was libero for a few years."

Motoya's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah," she said with a laugh. Her eyes shifted to Sakusa. "I switched to wing spiker in the last few months of Junior High because being on defense all the time _sucks."_

"Oi!" the libero protested. "Being the libero is cool!"

"Yeah, but spiking is even cooler."

"No it's not!"

Chigaya coughed. "So, uh, why don't you play anymore?"

There was a pause as Mikaela pondered her answer. She could do the same thing she did every time: be vague, say she had an injury, watch them guess at whether it was permanent or not, then link it to the fact that she had surgery, then guess about what she did and whether she was injured playing volleyball, or...

"I got my leg chopped off."

Kageyama _choked._ Hard. "Kai-" he coughed, pounding a fist against his chest. "Kai, you can't say it like that!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Am I lying?"

"Well, no..." he trailed off, and Mikaela turned to the two Itachiyama players to see their reactions. Motoya was staring at her with unadulterated horror on his face, but what surprised her most was how unbothered Sakusa looked. Despite the sudden urge to fidget with his mask, the Itachiyama ace didn't look affected by her news. Kageyama sighed. "Explain, then."

"Wait, let me guess," Motoya said, pointing at her. "Pirates."

 _"Pirates?!_ That's your guess?!"

"You never know-"

"Were you in the army?" Chigaya asked, cocking his head.

Mikaela slapped herself in the forehead. _"No."_ They went quiet, so Mikaela took it as her cue to explain. "There was a fire. A flaming beam fell on my leg. They had to chop it off."

Motoya's eyebrows had reached the top of his forehead. "That's so hardcore."

"Would pirates have been a better story?"

"Oh, definitely."

Mikaela rolled her eyes, trying to suppress her grin. "Yeah, so my leg got chopped off and they made me a prosthetic, but my legs were still cramping up and overall it was pretty bad. I just had surgery done... a month ago? Over a month? So I was in a wheelchair for a while, and now I'm going to be on crutches for a bit, then I'll be all good to go." She shrugged, surprised at how lightly she could talk about it now.

"Are you going to go back to playing volleyball?" Chigaya asked.

She paused. "Hopefully."

"Will you go back to Niiyama?"

Her blood went cold. That voice hadn't come from anyone at the table.

Mikaela turned in her seat, and not to her surprise, Miya Atsumu was standing a few meters away with his empty tray tucked under his arm, smirking at her. "I never said I went to Niiyama," she said coldly. _He found the fucking article. Of course he did._

"You went to Niiyama?" Chigaya asked with a frown.

Miya's smirk grew. "Well, that's what the handy little article I found said, anyways. You're quite the player, aren't ya?"

She sighed. "What'd you want? You're a pain in the ass."

"Oh, nothing, I just like pissing you off."

Mikaela stood up from her seat. The chair screeched as it was pushed backwards, but Mikaela didn't notice. Using the table for balance, she twisted so she was facing the setter. "Look, do you have a problem?" she said with a snarl, glaring at him. "Or can you leave me alone?"

"Problem? No problems, just a question." He cocked his head, not waiting for her response. "Will you be leaving your poor little twin for volleyball and go back to Niiyama? Can he handle being on his own without you?"

Kageyama stiffened and moved to stand up, but Mikaela clamped a hand on his shoulder. "Miya-kun," Motoya warned, "that's a bit much."

His grin widened. "A bit much? It's just a question. Mister goody-two-shoes doesn't look like he'll be much use without-"

Mikaela hand slammed on the table just as Kageyama started to rise. "You take that back," Mikaela said coldly, lifting her palm and shoving Kageyama's shoulder so that he wouldn't stand up. "Take it back _now."_

"Kaisha," Kageyama said shortly, "I-"

"Talk shit about me all you want," she snapped, her cold blue eyes never leaving Miya, "but never talk shit about Tobio like that."

Miya's smirk grew. "What're you going to do, throw your crutches at me?"

Something in Mikaela snapped. Maybe it was just the pent up frustration with Miya, who seemed to enjoy riling her up to a point that involved insulting Kageyama, which was one hundred percent crossing a line. But what really kicked it for her was the challenge- now, she just _had_ to do it.

Mikaela grabbed one of her crutches and launched it at him, javelin-style. Despite his surprise, Miya still moved fairly quickly and deflected it with his tray, and the crutch flew by his leg and bounced off the floor with a clatter.

"What the _hell?!"_ Chigaya shouted, standing up from his seat.

 _"Kaisha!"_ Kageyama hissed, grabbing her sleeve.

She whirled on him. "He dared me!"

"You actually threw it!" Motoya remarked. "Damn!"

Sakusa snorted. "You're insane."

Whatever Mikaela was about to say was cut off by Miya's cackling. He was doubled over, laughing hard enough that he sounded like he was dying. "You actually threw it!" he wheezed. "You're so easy to manipulate, you-"

Mikaela seized the second crutch and whipped it at him. This time, her aim held true, and the bottom end of the crutch struck him in the side. "You fucking _asshole!"_ she snapped, balancing herself with Kageyama's shoulder. Miya twisted but didn't fall- he was too busy laughing.

Kageyama tugged at her sleeve. "Kaisha, everyone's watching-"

"Wow, and here I thought you were smart," Miya gloated, standing up straight with a hand perched on his side where she'd hit him with the crutch. "Now you're out of ammo! What're you gonna do now, hobble over?"

Mikaela wasn't dumb. Clearly, he was expecting her to march over and give him a piece of her mind. He was right, in a way; she _was_ easy to manipulate. She got riled up and felt the need to prove people wrong when she really didn't owe them anything. Not to mention that she took challenges quite literally- she had half a mind to hop on one leg and punch him in the face, but she'd only risk humiliating herself.

Then it clicked- she wasn't 'out of ammo' at all.

Her hands flew down to where her prosthetic connected to her knee and she felt for the fasteners underneath her track pants. With a small click, she felt it come undone.

"Kaisha."

She looked up, meeting Kageyama's eyes.

"Hit him in the face," he said with a low snarl.

Mikaela grabbed the ankle of her prosthetic, pulled it up over her head, ignored the sounds of screams around her, and threw the metal leg as hard as she could. Miya was so surprised that he didn't even move as the heel of the prosthetic clonked him in the face, sending him tumbling backwards. She pumped a fist in celebration and nearly toppled over, but Kageyama stood up and wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

"What the _fuck!"_

"Holy shit! Holy shit!"

"Did she just-"

 _"She fucking did!"_

"She ripped her leg off, holy hell!"

"It's fake! Look, that's metal-"

 _"She's got a fake fucking leg!"_

The consequences for what she just did were starting to sink in. Mikaela's head spun; she'd just detached her prosthetic and _threw_ it across the room and managed to hit Miya Atsumu in the face. Christ, she was going to be in so much trouble. That wasn't even her main concern- everyone was shouting and pointing at her or her prosthetic, which was laying on the ground next to the fallen setter. She'd just taken her biggest secret and literally thrown it out for everyone to know about. "What the _fucking_ hell!" Miya cried out, sitting up from his spot on the floor. "What was that? You-"

 _Don't yell. Don't yell._ As tempting as it was to scream at him, Mikaela knew she seemed bad enough as is. "Oh, you didn't know?" she said, mustering up as much fake sweetness as she could. "The reason I don't play is because I had to get my fucking leg chopped off."

"Again with the wording," Kageyama muttered.

She ignored him. "Is that enough information for you?" Mikaela asked, her tone of voice tipping from sweet to venomous. "Or do you want my life story too? Because that's even uglier."

"You're a psycho," Miya said in disbelief, shaking his head. "What's wrong with you?"

Mikaela scoffed. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Oi. Sit," Kageyama instructed, and Mikaela fell back against the chair, surprised at how weak she felt on just one leg without any physical aid. As soon as she was seated, Kageyama walked over to Miya and stopped in front of him. Then, he extended his hand out to him. "Truce."

Miya glared at his hand, his face still riddled with disbelief. It felt like the entire cafeteria was holding their breath.

Right as he was about to respond, the door to the staff room was opened. For a brief moment, Mikaela wondered why no one had come out to check on them with all the yelling, but the blinds were covering the windows and from her experience in that room, it was incredibly sound-proofed. To her mortification, Fuki walked about, his eyes down on a clipboard in his hands. After realizing how silent the cafeteria was, he raised his head. "What's going on..." he trailed off, his eyes falling on Mikaela (who was seated with only one leg) then Miya, who was seated on the ground next to two crutches and a prosthetic leg.

Before he could say anything else, Mikaela pointed at him. "You gave me permission."

"Not for the leg," he said casually, as if he wasn't surprised. "Did he deserve it?"

"Yes," Mikaela and Kageyama said at the same time Miya said, "no!"

Fuki sighed, his eyes lingering on the discarded prosthetic. "We've got a long day tomorrow. I suggest everyone gets some sleep."

Mikaela could've laughed when he turned around and left the cafeteria without a single glance back. "That's _it?!"_ Miya spluttered, waving a hand at Mikaela. "She doesn't even get in trouble? What the hell?"

"I got permission," she protested meekly, leaning back in her seat.

To her surprise, Motoya stood up from his spot and moved around the table until he was in front of her. He held out his hand for a fist bump, and Mikaela lightly tapped her fist against his. "That," he announced, "was awesome." The libero turned on his heel and marched over to where Kageyama stood by Miya, who was still sitting on the floor. He crouched, reaching for one of her crutches. He raised an eyebrow at Miya. "You getting up?"

Kageyama didn't even register Motoya picking up her crutches. He turned back to Miya and held out his hand again. "Truce."

Miya groaned, and a smirk rolled onto his face. He grabbed Kageyama's hand and hauled himself to his feet. "I kinda deserved that," he admitted, not letting go of Kageyama's hand. "Don't worry, I'll get my revenge at nationals."

He sauntered off with a smug grin on his face, and Mikaela was still wondering how he managed to look cool after getting hit in the face by a prosthetic limb. She blinked out of her thoughts when Kageyama tapped her on the shoulder, holding her prosthetic in one hand. "Thanks," she managed, taking the limb and pulling up her pant leg. She leaned down and attached it with a small click.

"Here you go." Motoya was standing next to Kageyama, holding her crutches out to her.

Mikaela sighed in relief. "Thank you so much, Motoya-san," she said as she took the crutches from him, grabbing onto the handles.

"Just Motoya's cool," he said with a shrug. "You good?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Yeah," Mikaela said eventually, "I think so. I'm just a bit tired."

"I'll walk you to your room," Kageyama volunteered immediately.

She was too mentally exhausted to protest. "Okay, thanks, Kags," she murmured, hoisting herself up and carefully balancing herself with the crutches. Kageyama and Motoya both lurched forward like they were afraid she'd pitch herself forward and fall, but she kept her balance. "Thanks, guys, I'm good," she assured them.

"Get some rest, Mikaela," Chigaya said, piping up after staying quiet for so long that Mikaela nearly forgot he was there. "That was crazy." Sakusa, predictably, didn't say a word.

"I will, thanks," she said with a smile, hobbling away from the table. Kageyama followed her, staying close in case she fell over. Some other day, she would've brushed him off, but she was too mentally drained for that.

It was only 7 pm, but she passed out immediately.

Mikaela slept well for the first time in a while.

* * *

"Dude, look," Sumuri said, nudging the other kid at his table. "Miya's picking a fight with the girl again."

The other boy, Aguraki, glanced up. His eyes widened. "Dude, again? Does he have nothing better to do?"

"He's flirting, dude. She's the only girl here and she's hot, who wouldn't want-"

"Dude, check it out," Aguraki said, cutting him off. "It's getting heated."

They both watched as the manager stood up, glaring angrily at the setter, who looked amused. "Bro, she's pissed," Sumuri said in awe, watching her slam her palm down on the table. "I wonder what he's saying. What's she so pissed about?"

Aguraki reached for his phone. "She's gonna slap him, calling it now. I'm getting it on video."

"Dude, she's too far out of reach and she's on _crutches,_ what could she-"

They both paused as the manager grabbed one of her crutches and whipped it at the setter. They watched her argue briefly with the boy who looked like her twin before reaching for the other crutch.

Sumuri coughed, "please tell me you're getting this."

"Missed the first throw," Aguraki admitted, holding his phone with the camera focused on the pair. "Hopefully she'll throw the other one."

"How's she supposed to walk if she does?" He paused. "Never mind, she just threw it."

Aguraki snickered to himself. "Got that on video."

"Calling it now, she's gonna tackle him."

"Dude, she was on _crutches."_

"And?"

"How can she-"

They both watched through the phone screen as she reached down, grabbed her ankle, and tugged. Sumuri actually screamed (though he'd deny it later) as her leg removed itself from her body and she threw it at Miya. There was plenty more shouting, including Aguraki, who was chanting "holy shit holy _shit"_ as chaos unfolded in the cafeteria.

Sumuri turned to his friend. "If you didn't get that on video, I _will_ spike a ball at your face tomorrow."

"Got it," Aguraki said, holding out the recorded video. The two boys watched as the girl threw her second crutch, then reached down and pulled off her leg, then chucked it at Miya. Aguraki's hands had started shaking after that, so the video was a bit fuzzy before it cut out. "Dude, this is priceless," Aguraki said with a laugh, pulling the phone into his hands. "I'm so posting this."

"That's good," Sumuri agreed. "Send it to me."

"For sure."

Neither of them realized how Internet famous Aguraki was going to become.

* * *

"This sucks," Tsukishima grumbled under his breath, collapsing on the bench at the side of the gym.

Training camp was not only physically exhausting, but seeing Hinata every day just sapped the energy right out of him. Not only had the shrimp been dumb enough to try and crash the training camp, but he'd been allowed to stay as ball boy. Just how annoying was that? They should've just kicked him out.

He grabbed his water bottle and held it up to his lips, tipping the last of his water into his mouth. He coughed weakly- he needed more water. Did he have a spare bottle? Maybe in his bag.

Tsukishima stood up from the bench and headed to the locker room. He found where he'd left his bag and pulled it open, relieved to see another water bottle inside. His eyes landed on his phone and he grabbed that too, opening it to check for any new messages.

"What the hell?" he muttered, glaring at the notification.

Five texts from Yamaguchi?

He opened up his messages, glaring at the screen.

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (18:48):_** _Tsukki have you seen the video yet_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (18:49):_** _It's Mikaela holy crap please say you've seen it_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (18:49):_** _She threw her leg at someone, it's breaking the internet_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (18:50):_** _I'll send it to you one sec_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (18:50): *_** _Video attached*_

Tsukishima played the ten second video, and his eyes bugged out of his head.

"What the _hell-"_

* * *

 **Wow. Your responses blew me away. Pardon my language but holy shit. Thank you guys so much. I got a lot of valuable input and a lot of mixed opinions, I'm glad some of you guys are as conflicted as I am.**

 **As much as I'd love to respond to reviews, there were so many (trust me they were all lovely) and I read each and every single one of them.**

 **(Also, I had half of the response written out and my compute crashed. My responses were long so I lost over five hundred words and I'm too tired to write them out again. Sigh. Sorry) (Also I'm hella tired so sorry for any grammar mistakes oops)**

 **For those worried about the lack of Tsukishima, I hoped you enjoyed this tidbit in this chapter! Trust me, there'll be a lot more next chapter... ;)**

 **Thank you for your support! :)**


	42. The Reaction

**I'm so shaken up by your response, thank you so much to KrypticKoala, Coolfire30, AmIValid2, Zoreux, hannymae, Mixie18, MoonlightFox16, SociallyAwkwardHumanBeing, Sayori1412, blue-rae-1008, Tribble. Chan, Swaggishima, Alessia Kibono, Alyria022011, SylpheKuro, lundygeorge7, patatagamer2. 0, YueLuu, iaronepiece, sunshine78, 4plywhenicry, LuceRunsAway, DevotionSince13, Kartaliz, burningphoenix221, inam730, Mad-Hatter246, North Moonlight, dimonyo-anghel, Lacie123, chiflower1, hobifam, CookieTheDark, Arvolth Edelweiss, SnowFlake20, bei1wolf3, KisaragiMaru, Myherogal22, monstercarneval, luvielle, cloudblade077, hebihanshu123352, little tigress, and Yurasen for your support!**

 **Do y'all see how many people that is?! You guys are gonna make me cry. Enjoy a quick few bonus scenes at the start of the chapter ;)**

* * *

"Do ya think-"

"Oikawa, if you're talking about aliens _again,_ I will deck you."

Oikawa groaned, sitting up from the couch. "Iwa-chan! I was talking about physics!"

"Like hell you were, Assikawa," Iwaizumi replied without looking up from his textbook. "You've been staring at the same page for the past fifteen minutes."

"Aw, Iwa-chan's been keeping a close eye on me?"

"Shut up. Work."

"I already know all of this!"

Iwaizumi groaned, slamming his textbook shut. "Fine. Quick break."

"Yay!" Oikawa chirped, popping up from the couch immediately and taking off for the kitchen, eager to prepare himself a snack. Iwaizumi sighed, sinking further back into the chair. He should know by now that study nights with Oikawa never worked, but here he was, at this dumbass's house reading about forces and vectors. He'd rather be playing volleyball, and odds were that Oikawa felt the same.

He was broken out of his thoughts when Oikawa called his name. "Iwa-chan! Chips or popcorn?"

"Either or," he called back, pulling out his phone. No new texts. With a sigh, he opened up his social media, waiting for Oikawa to get back.

A video popped up onto his feed and he froze.

"Iwa-chan!" Oikawa chirped. "Pop or water?"

The video finished. Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes at it and played it again.

Oikawa stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Iwa-chan, don't ignore me! Pop or water?"

"Oikawa," Iwaizumi said faintly, pausing the video, "come see this."

The setter must've easily sensed the drastic change in his best friend's mood because he didn't poke fun or protest. With a frown, Oikawa peeked over Iwaizumi's shoulder and the ace clicked the play button.

The video played.

"Holy shit, that's Mikaela!"

"Yeah," Iwaizumi said slowly, his eyes following the motion of their junior as she reached for her ankle.

The tug and throw was followed by a "holy fuck!" from Oikawa, who snatched Iwaizumi's phone away from him and put the screen right next to his face. "Why the hell did she throw her leg?! Is that Miya Atsumu? She threw her leg at Miya Atsumu? What the hell-"

"Oi! My phone!" Iwaizumi snatched it back from Oikawa, pulling it into his chest. "Go check your own phone!"

Oikawa scoffed, pulling his phone out of the pocket of his sweatpants. "Do you seriously think I'm going to find the video just by- oh. Here it is."

"That quickly?" Iwaizumi muttered, sneaking a peek over Oikawa's shoulder. He was watching the video through a different social media page. "Is the video everywhere?"

"Yeah, I think so," he agreed. Iwaizumi watched his fingers fly over his phone, exiting from one social media app and accessing the next one, and finding the video on his feed almost immediately. Iwaizumi whistled as he watched his junior hit Miya Atsumu in the head with her prosthetic on repeat. "Iwa-chan!" Oikawa cried out, whirling on his best friend. "Mika-chan broke the Internet!"

"Well, I doubt she-"

"I'm going to call her! No, I'll text her! What the hell was she thinking?" Oikawa snapped, fingers typing furiously on his phone screen.

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes. "Oikawa, your Mom is showing."

"Well then be the supportive Dad, Iwa-chan!"

He laughed. "I will, then." Iwaizumi watched the video roll one more time, smirked to himself, then typed out a text to Mikaela.

* * *

"Yuka, you've got to see this."

The dark-haired girl sighed, not looking up from her work. "Kahano, I'm busy," she complained, her eyes trailing over math equations. Studying at her friend's place had seemed like fun when Kahano had suggested it, but since they'd started, she'd been on her phone the entire time, and it was nearing midnight. _How annoying._

"It's important-"

"As important as the assignment? Probably not."

Kahano sighed, kicking her friend in the leg. "I'm serious. Yuka, she wasn't lying."

"Who?"

"Mikaela."

Yuka finally snapped her head up from her work. "What? What're you talking about?"

"Remember how she snapped and said she had a metal leg?" Kahano said, her eyes still glued to the screen. Yuka nodded, then once she noticed Kahano wasn't looking up, she spoke up and said yes. Kahano bit her lip. "She, uh- you know what, just watch."

She thrust the phone at her and Yuka watched the video.

When it was done, all Yuka could say was "fuck."

Kahano nodded, replaying the video again. "Yeah. Fuck."

* * *

Mikaela woke up at four in the morning to floods of texts on her phone.

She didn't even understand at first. Sure, waking up to a text or two was normal, but... seventy three?

Seventy three new messages?

Mikaela frowned and turned off her phone, then turned it back on. Then she rubbed her eyes. _Maybe it's actually just three. Three. Or seven._ But the number flashed at her: seventy-three. She sat up, opening up her messages.

 _ **Yamaguchi Tadashi (18:46):** Kaisha omg! the video!_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (18:47):_** _Are you good? What happened?_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (19:32):_** _I hope you're okay, call me if you need me!_

 ** _Oikawa Tōru (18:47):_** _What the hell, Mika-chan?! What happened?_

 ** _Oikawa Tōru (18:48):_** _Call me asap!_

 ** _Oikawa T_** ** _ōru (18:54):_** _Mika-chan!_

There were another dozen texts from Oikawa after that, so Mikaela scrolled through to the next couple.

 _ **Iwaizumi Hajime: (18:48):** Nice hit_

 ** _Hinata Shoyo (18:59):_** _Mikaela! Wow!_

 ** _Hinata Shoyo (18:59):_** _I mean Kaisha! Sorry!_

 ** _Hinata Shoyo (19:01):_** _You hit him in the head! Your leg went flying! What did he say! Was he being mean! Did you beat him up! I mean you threw your leg so I guess you did but like did you punch him! Did you knock him out!_

The texts from Hinata also dragged on and on, but now Mikaela was wide awake. Hinata had mentioned her throwing her leg? How did he know? Did Kageyama tell him? But how did everyone else know? Mikaela scrolled through the messages: several from her teammates, a few panicked ones from Yachi, even a few from Kuroo.

The last one caught her eye.

 _ **Tsukishima Kei (2:03):**_ _What the hell was that_

 ** _Tsukishima Kei (2:04):_** _*Video attached*_

Mikaela frowned and clicked on the video.

It started out kind of fuzzy, but it became quite obvious what was going on within seconds. She could see herself on the left of the screen, standing while Kageyama was sitting next to her, talking to him furiously. Miya stood on the right side of the screen, clutching a tray in one hand and pointing at her, laughing. Her crutch was sitting on the ground next to him.

"Oh, shit," Mikaela said aloud as she watched herself throw her crutch at Miya. Even though she knew it was going to happen, she winced as she watched herself pull off her prosthetic and whip it at the setter. The video managed to capture the head shot, but it became so shaky that nothing could be made out properly except for the noisy chaos of people yelling.

The video ended, and Mikaela found herself staring at a replay button in front of a black screen.

She replayed it. Once, then twice, then again and again until she'd wasted almost five minutes watching and re-watching the biggest mistake of her life unfold on her phone screen. Someone had taken a video and somehow it had gone viral. _Viral._

Mikaela turned her phone off, glared at it, then threw it at the far wall. It hit the wall and fell to the ground. "Fuck," Mikaela said with a groan as she flopped back onto her bed.

 _It's four in the morning. It's too early for this shit._

No matter how hard she tried, there was no way she could go back to sleep after that. The scene kept replaying over and over in her head, and she couldn't seem to hit pause. It just replayed and replayed until Mikaela physically smacked herself on the head.

Half an hour of trying to sleep passed, and Mikaela decided to face the music. She rolled towards the edge of her bed and leaned off, searching for her phone. It wasn't damaged at all, but she wasn't surprised; her phone case was heavy duty. Mikaela paused, her thumb hovering over her screen hesitantly. "Here we go," she muttered to herself, opening up social media.

Of _course_ the first thing she saw was that fucking video.

All of the popular pages that she followed for funny content had posted that same video. The view counts were ridiculously high- these pages didn't even have that many followers, what the heck- and the pages were blowing up. Mikaela's curiosity won over, and she clicked on the comments.

 _ **Coolfire30:**_ _*Video Upload*_

 ** _Coolfire30:_** _LMAOOOO THIS GIRL REALLY LOOKED HIM IN THE EYE AND SAID TRY ME_

 _Comments:_

 ** _Tribble. Chan:_** _SHE YEETED HER LEG OMG_

 ** _Kitty:_** _omg she really just threw her leg like that_

 ** _Sayori1412:_** _Who took this video?_

 ** _Swaggishima:_** _This is hilarious it made my night_

 ** _Huohua Duvessa:_** _THIS IS SO CHAOTIC I LOVE IT_

Mikaela sighed in relief. None of the comments were negative, at least. She'd been a bit nervous, but the Internet just seemed to see it as a joke, which was okay in her eyes. It _was_ kind of funny, now that she was seeing it from an outside perspective. And it had blown up on the Internet? That was hilarious. If her entire volleyball team had seen it, it was highly likely that it was circulating around school.

God, what she wouldn't give to see the look on Yuka's face right now. Mikaela's lips twisted upwards into a grin, and she fell back against her pillow, scrolling through more of the comments and laughing at some of the particularly funny ones. She swiped to another page that had posted the video and scrolled through those comments, giggling as she went.

Okay, so it wasn't that bad.

 _Oh, shit._

Sure, it'd be circulating through school, and so many people had seen it, but so would others.

"The Niiyama girls," Mikaela said aloud, her eyes glued to one particular comment that laughed at how dumb Miya looked in the video. "Shit."

She shut her phone off almost immediately and fell back on her bed. Would that really be so bad? Would they connect it to her departure? Would they connect that to the fire at the gym? Would they put it all together? Would they contact her? Would they...

 _You know what?_ The ghost of a smile passed over Mikaela's face. _It doesn't matter._

She managed to fall asleep for another two hours until her alarm went off.

* * *

When she entered the cafeteria later that morning, the room fell dead silent.

Mikaela tried to pay the onlookers no attention, but it was hard considering all of them were staring at her with eyes wider than dinner plates. She glanced around and her eyes landed on her usual table, where Kageyama, Chigaya, Motori, and even Sakusa were seated. To her surprise (and disgruntlement) Miya Atsumu was also seated at the table, and when she made eye contact with him, goosebumps broke out over her skin.

Kageyama stood up, ignoring the silence in the room, and said aloud, "I'll grab your food," before wandering away to the buffet tables. Mikaela nearly rolled her eyes- _Leave it to Tobio to be completely unaffected-_ but she kept staring at Miya, trying her best not to break eye contact.

Miya stood up from the table and started walking towards her, and she felt the cafeteria hold its breath.

He stopped in front of her, just a little bit further than she could swing with her crutches. _Huh._ "So," he said, coughing to clear his throat. "How's it feel to be Internet famous?"

She smirked. "Not too bad, actually. How's it feel to be the laughing stock of the Internet?"

Miya's face went red. "Look, I didn't know you had a prosthetic."

"Most people don't," Mikaela agreed, swiveling to glare at random onlookers in the cafeteria. "Well, they _didn't."_

Several of the bystanders shivered. Mikaela was interested in who had taken that video, and judging by the angle of the shot based on where they'd been standing and the two boys that were shrinking further and further into their seats, she had a rough idea who. Kageyama returned to the table and set her food down as quietly as possible before sitting himself down as well, turned to watch the conversation unfold.

"Regardless," Mikaela said loudly, saying out loud what she'd rehearsed in her head this morning, "throwing not just my crutches at you but my prosthetic too was a bit too much."

"A bit?" he mumbled.

She pinched her lips together. "Sorry," she said flatly, extending her hand. "Next time I'll just punch you or something."

Mikaela heard a soft slap and nearly laughed when she realized Kageyama had slapped himself in the forehead. Regardless, she didn't break eye contact with the second-year setter as he stared at her hand. Something passed over his face that Mikaela couldn't quite pick out, but to her surprise, Miya reached out and took her hand. "Sorry," he said, the words not as forced as she had expected. "Shouldn't have pushed you that far."

They shook. His hand was warm.

"Well, I was going to pull you both aside, but it appears you've nearly resolved this on your own."

Mikaela jumped, jerking her hand away from the setter's. Everyone turned to see the head coach standing at the back of the room. _Did he just get here? I didn't notice him before._ Fuki grinned, straightening up. "However, I still need to see you both in the staff room for a moment. Finish your breakfast and pop by when you're done." With that said, he walked towards the staff room and quietly entered, shutting the door behind him.

The room erupted into chatter, and Mikaela quickly moved to her seat, falling into it awkwardly. Miya moved around to the other side of the table, taking a seat across from her.

The table was quiet for a minute until Motoya said, "I'm surprised you both didn't kill each other."

"Me too," Chigaya added.

Mikaela shrugged, digging into her food. "I overreacted. Just because he's a self-obsessed prick doesn't mean I can throw things at him."

Miya cocked an eyebrow. "Says the always-angry stalker."

Mikaela was about to snap back when Kageyama intervened. "You two _just_ made peace," he said with a scowl.

"Doesn't mean I have to like him," she muttered.

"The feeling's mutual," Miya agreed, glaring at her.

To her surprise, Sakusa spoke up. "You two are dumb," he remarked dryly, causing Miya to choke on his food.

Motoya laughed. "Well, he's not wrong."

Mikaela smiled to herself as the table rolled into easier conversation, mostly between Chigaya and Motoya with Miya adding snippets in between. She ate her food quickly and quietly, exchanging quick glances with Kageyama every once in a while.

This wasn't too bad after all.

* * *

This _sucked._

"Why the hell did we get stuck on cleaning duty?" Miya complained loudly, picking up a box of tennis balls.

Mikaela scowled, pulling a badminton net down from the shelf. "Because we're idiots, obviously."

Fuki had been honest with them as soon as they entered the staff room after breakfast- they couldn't just get off without punishment. Although Miya had spent a generous portion of time complaining that he wasn't at fault, Fuki added that plenty of the players could attest that Mikaela was provoked, and he'd shut up after that. Fuki had mentioned that he was impressed at their maturity at being able to make up at breakfast, but he didn't quite believe they were one hundred percent cool with each other, so he had a 'quick little task' to help them 'bond'.

Hence why they were stuck cleaning and reorganizing the storage closet for an hour after dinner had wrapped up later that evening.

Fuki had promised that he'd send Kageyama down to fetch them when their time was up, but they'd only been at it for half an hour and Mikaela was ready to tear her hair out of her skull. Sure, she complained a lot, but Miya was just on another level.

"This is dumb," he whined, grabbing a box of the top shelf and nearly collapsing. "Crap, this is heavy!"

"Pass me the cones," Mikaela called, turning around awkwardly. It was kind of difficult with crutches. "Please."

Miya lobbed them at her and she fumbled them, letting them fall to the ground. "Can't even catch?" he gloated, sticking his tongue out at her. "Loser."

"I'm on _crutches,_ you blind asshole."

Their banter had been going on for so long that Mikaela could feel the brain cells dying in her head. Miya started complaining again- something about how tangled the jump ropes were- so she hobbled over and took the box from him. Moving things left and right was a bit harder, especially considering she couldn't carry anything large or heavy, but untangling things was something she could do.

To her surprise, Miya went silent after she took the box, and stepped around her to grab the cones and move them to the top shelf. Ten minutes of silence passed (in which Mikaela was horribly unsuccessful at untangling the ropes) and she decided she'd had enough of quiet. Mikaela swallowed nervously. _Time to try my hand at conversation._ "So," she said awkwardly, keeping her eyes glued on the mess of jump ropes. "Why are you here and not Osamu?"

"You know Osamu?" he asked, surprised.

She shrugged. "You two are pretty famous. I expected both of you to be here."

He was quiet for a moment before he said, "yeah, me too. He didn't seem all that mad about not being able to come, though."

Mikaela wanted to pump her hand in victory- their first civilized conversation without insults!- so she asked, "what's it like, having a twin?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Mikaela turned her head to him and raised an eyebrow at him. Miya glared at her. "What? You and Tobio are twins, are you not?"

"No. Cousins."

Miya's jaw dropped. "What? You're not even siblings?"

"Nope," Mikaela said, turning back to her jump ropes. "We were always close but never really sibling-level close until this year- if you know what I mean."

"I refuse to believe you're not twins. You literally look like carbon copies of each other."

She groaned. "Whatever floats your boat."

They were silent for another few minutes following. Miya moved more boxes, clearing some shelves off, and Mikaela cursed under her breath as she tried to untangle ll of the dumb ropes. How'd they get so messed up in the first place? "Fuck," she said with a scowl as her attempt to unravel a knot made it worse.

"Can I ask you something?" Miya said.

"No."

"I'm gonna ask anyways. Why the heck are you on crutches? You've got a fake foot to walk with."

Mikaela yanked at the cords, and finally the knot came loose. "I had surgery done a month or something ago," she said breezily, "and I haven't been able to walk since."

Miya raised his eyebrows. "Will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Walk."

"Yeah, in a few weeks."

"Do you play volleyball?"

Mikaela spun around, glaring at him. "You looked me up. Don't you know already?"

Miya glared right back at her. "Come down off your high horse, sweetheart. All I know is that you used to play at Niiyama. My guess is that you got fed up with someone or something there and moved to Karasuno, but you got yourself a prosthetic by getting your leg chopped off, and couldn't play for a while. So you gonna get back into volleyball?" he finished, frowning at her.

 _That was..._ "You're close," Mikaela managed, turning back to her jump ropes. "The accident happened at Niiyama and since I couldn't play volleyball, I moved to Karasuno."

"Just because you couldn't play volleyball?" Miya clicked his tongue. "Sounds more like you chickened out."

"Fuck off," she snapped, digging her fingers into another know in the cords. "You don't know anything."

"Asshole," Miya grumbled under his breath. Mikaela ignored him, going back to furiously tugging at the jump ropes with a bit of anger that she wasn't allowed to let out on Miya.

With a fierce tug, one of the jump ropes snapped back and smacked her in the face. "Ow!" she cried out, a hand immediately flying to her eye.

"Ha! Loser!"

"Oh, fuck off!"

He stuck his tongue out at her and she stuck hers out right back at him before turning back to the ropes, grabbing the one that smacked her in the face and tossing it out of the box. In retaliation, one of the other jump ropes that was tied around it whipped out and hit her cheek. Mikaela cried out and shoved the box off her lap, frustrated. Miya was laughing at her, and just as she turned to give him a piece of her mind, a box that he hadn't stacked properly toppled off the shelf and fell onto his foot.

"Ow!" Miya cried, jumping back and hopping on one foot. "What the heck?"

"Loser," Mikaela taunted, grinning despite the pain in her cheek.

He made a face at her, which melted into a grin. Smiling to herself, Mikaela turned back to the jump ropes. She exhaled slowly and grabbed them again, determined to finish what she started. _Maybe Miya's not all that bad._

Another few minutes of quiet passed. Mikaela finally finished the jump ropes and had moved on to reorganizing the bag of jerseys. _We must be getting close to an hour now, right?_ Mikaela was about to say it out loud when Miya spoke up. "You headed back to Niiyama?"

She paused, not sure if she heard him correctly. "What?"

"Are you going back to Niiyama for volleyball?" he repeated, tossing a football into a nearby cart.

"Uh..." Mikaela trailed off. That was question she'd been thinking about for a while. "That's a good question," she said with a weak laugh. "I'm not sure."

Miya didn't look at her. He stepped forwards and shoved the football cart towards the back of the store room. "Are you actually conflicted?" he asked, locking gazes with her and makes goosebumps erupt on her skin. "Or are you saving the answer because you're afraid of pissing people off?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped, already knowing the answer but unwilling to acknowledge it herself.

"It's easy for you to stay at Karasuno, isn't it?" Miya cocked his head, the smirk on his face telling her that he was getting exactly the reaction he wanted. "If you go to Niiyama, you've got to say goodbye to Tobio-chan."

Mikaela held his gaze for as long as she could before she broke away with a sigh, turning back to the jerseys. "It's not that easy," she mumbled.

"So you want to go to Niiyama?" he asked.

The answer slipped out of her mouth before she had even processed what she said. "Kind of," Mikaela admitted, zipping up the bag. She paused, absorbing her words, and continued. "Karasuno's volleyball team has almost nothing on the Niiyama team. I had a scholarship and a shot at the starting roster. Now, obviously, I wouldn't have a shot, but I'd recover and learn a lot better on a team like that."

"Seriously?"

Mikaela's blood ran cold. That wasn't Miya's voice.

They both turned towards the storage room doorway. Kageyama was standing in the doorway, face blank, his jacket pulled on over his work out clothing and his volleyball bag slung over his shoulder. He wasn't even looking at Miya- his piercing blue eyes were glaring daggers at her.

Mikaela couldn't remember the last time she had ever been even remotely intimidated by Kageyama. "K- Kags," she stammered, turning back to the jersey bag and grabbing it. "Are- Are we done?"

"You're going to go back to Niiyama?" Kageyama said again.

Miya, to his credit, stayed silent. Uncharacteristic of him (at least, from what she knew so far) but she respected him for it nonetheless. "I haven't decided yet," she clarified softly, unable to hold Kageyama's intense stare. She looked to his feet instead. "I... I want to get back into volleyball. If Mom can work something out with the school board- I mean, they did give me a scholarship, right? Like..."

She looked up and nearly winced. She'd never seen him look so hurt. "You'd leave Karasuno?" Kageyama said, saying it again like he couldn't quite understand what she was saying. "After everything that's happened?"

"Kags, it's for volleyball," Mikaela pushed, trying to get him to understand, even just a little bit. "And, I mean, if Mom's willing to do it-"

"Kai, did the last six months mean nothing to you?" he said coldly, and Mikaela nearly flinched from the harshness of his words. "Does our team mean nothing to you?"

She was never this dumbfounded when she argued with her mother. "Kags, I... This team-"

Kageyama stepped towards her and it took every last bit of her willpower not to step back. "I thought Karasuno was your home now," he said forcefully, his tone slowly migrating from angry to hurt. "I thought that we meant more to you than just a... just a stepping stone. Why can't you just play volleyball here? What has Niiyama ever done for you?"

Surprise and hurt gave way to anger and frustration in one swoop. "Tobio, you of all people should know that when the opportunity comes up, you take it. Niiyama gave me a scholarship, and if there's any chance I can play on that team again, I-"

"Just play at Karasuno!"

"No offense to the Karasuno women's team, but they're no Niiyama," Mikaela snapped, grabbing her crutches and standing herself up. "I'm going to have a lot more success with the Niiyama team than the Karasuno team."

Kageyama scowled and swung his hand out in a wild gesture. "So? Karasuno was a no name before, and now we're going to nationals!"

"You've got Hinata," Mikaela retorted, hobbling forward, "and you've got Tsukishima, and the captains, and you brought back members that had dropped out, and you meshed as a fucking team. I've got nobody, Kags! No partner, no one to push me to get better, no one to challenge me. At least at Niiyama, I'll get better-"

"You're already good!"

"I used to be!"

"Then I'll help you! We'll all help you! Are we really nothing to you?"

Mikaela's blood boiled. "Don't you dare-"

Kageyama cut her off, his voice dropping. "So I'm not important anymore?" he said, his voice nearly cracking, and Mikaela's heart _burned_.

She was about to respond when Miya popped in- she'd forgotten he was there. "Uh, can I add something?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

They both spun on him, glaring. "No," they chorused in unison, hitting him with the double glare. Hinata must not have been lying when he said it was terrifying, because Miya looked like he wanted to run and hide. Mikaela turned back to Kageyama. "Kags, you're overreacting," she said with a sigh, leaning heavily onto her crutches. "Of course you all still mean so much to me, you especially. Moving to Niiyama won't change that."

"It will," Kageyama insisted, his shoulders dropping. "You say it won't change anything but it will and you know it."

"It won't!" she protested, her voice rising. "Kags, just let me do something for myself for a change! Try and be happy for me instead of pushing me down!"

Kageyama looked torn. "It's not right," he snapped, crossing his arms. "Niiyama's not the right place for you!"

"You don't get to decide that!"

"Mikaela, are you even listening to yourself?"

She blinked. He _never_ called her Mikaela. "Well, _Kageyama,"_ she emphasized icily, shifting her grip on her crutches, "maybe you should sort out your priorities before you force your opinion onto me."

Mikaela didn't wait for him to finish. She seized her crutches and pushed her way past him, blinking tears out of her eyes. If he called out to her, she couldn't hear it; all she could hear was the ringing in her own ears. Autopilot turned on and carried her to the elevator, pushed the right button, got off on her floor, made it to her door, pulled out her key card, fumbled with the door, and-

She had barely stumbled in the door when she started sobbing. The door swung shut behind her but Mikaela didn't even hear it close. The manager fell to her knees, crutches discarded beside her, and curled in on herself, shaking with sobs. It had been a while since Mikaela had gotten to cry just for the sake of crying, and in a weird way, it was kind of relieving.

At least it was, until her chest started tightening.

"Shit," Mikaela mumbled under her breath, hiccuping as air got caught in her throat. She shifted so she was seated on her rear and tucked her knees into her chest, trying to force herself to breathe shakily. It wasn't working- her chest was getting tighter and it felt like someone was shoving her underwater.

 _I can't breathe-_

Mikaela whimpered, burying her head in her knees. Absently, her hand groped around her pocket for her phone and pulled it out. She exhaled, her head spinning, and thumbed in the password. She pulled up her contacts.

Her thumb hovered over her father's phone number.

Reality crashed on her in the form of another panic attack. Mikaela nearly cried out, hands shaking so badly that she almost dropped her phone. Her father was gone. She couldn't call Kageyama. She was right, she had no one, who else was she supposed to go to?

Maybe it was because she wasn't thinking straight, or maybe it was because he was one of the newest contacts in her phone and right at the top of the list, but Mikaela hit Tsukishima's number.

 _Not a good idea._

The phone rang once. Then twice.

 _Definitely not a good idea._

Mikaela was about to hang up when the ringing stopped and a voice at the other end crackled through the phone's speaker. _"Mikaela? Aren't you at that training camp?"_

She nearly burst into tears again. "Tsuki- Tsukishima?" Mikaela forced out, pressing the phone against her ear.

 _"Mikaela? You okay?"_

"No- No, I..." Mikaela trailed off when she realized that he was still in the middle of his training camp too. "Shit- Shit, sorry, you have camp, I shouldn't-"

 _"Are you crying?"_

She sniffled loudly. "...No."

 _"Liar. What's wrong?"_

"Do you even care?"

It came out a lot nastier than expected, and Mikaela was ready to hang up the phone out of sheer embarrassment alone when she heard him respond. _"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have asked, obviously,"_ he replied. _"Why'd you call?"_

She sighed, letting her shoulders drop. She could feel the last of the anxiety attack slip away: her mind was clearing up and it no longer felt like her chest was constricting. "I, uh..." Mikaela wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I didn't know who else to call."

He hummed softly on the other end. _"Either you've got a bad memory, or you're pissed at Kageyama. Since you're crying, it's more likely he's pissed at you."_

"I'm not crying," she protested feebly.

 _"Dumbass, you obviously are."_

"Shut up," Mikaela mumbled with no venom behind her words. She turned her head, resting the side of her head against her knees with the phone pressed to her other ear. "We fought."

 _"So I was right?"_

"...I guess."

 _"As expected."_

Despite herself, Mikaela's lips twitched into an attempt at a smile. "You've got camp," she said, more as a reminder to herself than anything. "I should let you go."

She heard him snort on the other end of the line. _"Actually, as much as I hate talking to you, I hate physical activity even more."_

Mikaela smiled. "Really? I've moved up past volleyball?"

 _"Not the game itself, but the training, yes."_

"I'm flattered."

 _"Don't let it go to your head, you're already too full of yourself."_

She couldn't help it- she laughed. "Says you, you egotistical moron."

 _"Annoying."_

"Pain in the ass."

 _"Bothersome."_

"Frustrating."

 _"Temper problems."_

"People problems."

He didn't reply, but Mikaela was okay with that. There was a peaceful silence over the phone until Tsukishima finally spoke up again. _"Feel better?"_

"Yeah," she admitted, smiling to herself. "A bit. Thank you."

 _"Good. Now go talk it out with the King so I don't have to be bothered by you anymore."_

As nice as that sounded, Mikaela didn't really _want_ to go talk to Kageyama. She didn't even know what she'd say. "I don't know," Mikaela murmured, falling back to lay down on the floor. She stared up at the ceiling. "He was pretty mad. So was I. I don't even know if my argument stands anymore."

 _"What'd you two morons argue about?"_

"What school I'm going to next year."

As the silence dragged on on the other end of the phone, Mikaela suddenly began to realize that Tsukishima probably had opinions about her situation too. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything. _"Have you decided?"_ Tsukishima said quietly, his voice void of emotion.

Mikaela's tongue felt dry in her mouth. "I... I thought I had. But..."

 _"Mikaela? I'm going to use one of my questions."_

She sat up almost immediately. This was rare. "Okay, sure. You've got how many left?"

 _"After this, I'll have six. You've only got three."_ Mikaela resisted the urge to snap back at him about how he was keeping careful track of her questions- besides, she wanted to hear what he was going to ask. _"If I had asked you an hour ago, what school would you have said you were going to?"_

Mikaela bit her tongue. "...Niiyama."

 _"And if I asked you now?"_

"...I don't know."

 _"You don't know because you're genuinely conflicted or because you don't me to know?"_

She tensed up, trying to think of a way to stall so she didn't have to answer. "...How many questions was that?"

Tsukishima paused. _"Technically two. Fine, I'll deduct those. I'm at five now."_

"Where do you think I should go?"

 _"Is that one of your questions?"_

Mikaela sighed. "Yeah, and I've got one more after that. Actually, I'll ask both at the same time so you can answer them both." Her heart pounded in her chest. She was in such a weak state that his answer could literally make or break her resolve.

 _"You'll be down to one."_

"I know."

 _"Okay. Ask."_

"Where do you think I should go, and..." she trailed off, letting her eyes flutter shut. "Where do you want me to go?"

The silence that fell between them was tense, and with every passing second Mikaela's breathing got a bit more shallow and her sense of dread increased just a little bit more. _"Where I want you to go?"_ Tsukishima eventually repeated.

"Yeah."

 _"Karasuno."_

It felt like something had fallen off her shoulders. Mikaela felt so much lighter. "Really?" she said, a grin spreading across her face. "You're not sick of me yet?"

 _"Obviously I am,"_ Tsukishima retorted, but from his tone of voice, Mikaela could tell he was joking. _"But with you here, it's easier to tolerate the King and the horribly annoying Shrimp. And Yamaguchi seems to be in a better mood too. And you're not a horrible manager."_

Her smile faded. "Next year I wouldn't be managing, though."

 _"I suppose not. Would that mean Yachi-san would be?"_

"I guess. She's hung out with us long enough, and she's met the whole team before." Mikaela paused, mulling it over. "Yeah, that's a good idea, actually." A pause followed, but Mikaela interrupted it as soon as she realized Tsukishima had nothing specific to say. "So where _should_ I go?"

He took his time to respond, but when he did, it was quiet and she nearly missed it. _"Wherever you think you'll be happiest."_

After an awkward pause, they jumped back into casual conversation about their respective training camps. Tsukishima asked her about the video and Mikaela launched into the whole story, talking about Miya and how bothersome he was. Tsukishima told her about how Hinata crashed his training camp and was now the ball boy (she was going to have a few words with him later) and the people that were there. She told him about Motoya and Sakusa, and even mentioned Chigaya. Tsukishima listened, and then he talked (more like complained) and added smart remarks where he could. She laughed when he said something about someone else and tried to twist the conversation back to volleyball.

When he finally hung up, her phone screen read _1:48:15._ They were talking for almost two hours.

Mikaela slept easily that night.

* * *

 **I'm legitimately so freaked out, waking up after posting a chapter with over a dozen new reviews was crazy. Thank you all so much, wow, I'm so glad you liked the last chapter. To those of you who were like "she YEETED her leg" I'll have you know I cackled XD Y'all are too much, thank you endlessly!~ And thank you for being patient with me! I very much appreciate it! Hopefully this extra long chapter helps make up for it...**

 **Also, to anyone following the manga, I hope you're as distressed as I am.**

 **KrypticKoala:** You're so kind, thank you so much! Your review made me laugh XD Mikaela's totally my spirit animal too, I wish I had half of the guts to do some of the things she does. Thank you so much for your kind words and your review! :D

 **hannymae:** I'M SO GLAD YOU LAUGHED AHA I WAS HOPING THE LAST CHAPTER WOULD BE ENJOYABLE! The recording thing was just a last minute idea but now it's kind of vital because she's exposed to the world! Oops... Thank you so much for your review, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! XD

 **AmIValid2:** Actually, it's because of your review that Oikawa and Iwaizumi's reactions were in there at all, so you have yourself to thank for the first bit :3 Thank you so much for your review! I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter! :)

 **Zoreux:** Your review made me cackle XD Thank you so much for your funny review! Aha XD

 **Coolfire30:** I'm so glad you're taking the character development as well as I am! That chapter meant a lot to me and it makes me happy that readers find the same meaning with it. ALSO YOUR SECOND REVIEW MADE ME LAUGH SO HARD WHEN YOU CALLED HER YOUR GODDESS AND ICON BECAUSE HONESTLY SAME I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND you're honestly amazing and your support means so much to me, thank you so much! :D

 **Mixie18:** I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **MoonlightFox16:** Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, and the reminder not to rush myself was actually very kind of you. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **SociallyAwkwardHumanBeing:** I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED THIS! THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEW! :D

 **Sayori1412:** I'm so happy you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope this one is satisfactory! Lots of Tsukki ;) Thank you for your review! :D

 **blue-rae-1008:** I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you! :D

 **Tribble. Chan:** You've given me some exciting reactions to plan for... Thank you! XD You make a very important point about living near / going to Niiyama- without the support of her father it would be very difficult. Right now, Mikaela's looking at situation in something akin to tunnel vision: focusing on the volleyball portion and not her mental health. Tsukki's giving her a bit of a wake up call ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Swaggishima:** You're too kind! I hope this chapter helped with the lack of TsukiMika interaction ;D Thank you for your review! :D

 **Kitty:** I'm glad you enjoyed the recent chapter! The video going viral is definitely important and you can see already how it's starting to affect her. I know this update took a while, thank you for your patience :)

 **Huohua Duvessa:** YOU'RE LEGIT ONE OF MY FAVOURITES OH MY GOD YOUR REVIEW WAS PURE GOLD, thank you so much! :D :D :D

 **BankaiTensa:** I hope the little tidbits at the start of the chapter were good X3 I'm so glad you enjoyed, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **JTFrost:** Thank you so much! :)

 **Guest (1):** I'm planning on taking this story to the end of the manga! Thank you so much for your support! :D

 **Skyfern / Feathershade:** Aha, your review inspired the little social media thing in this chapter. Don't worry, I'm just extremely busy and writing hasn't been a priority, but in no way shape or form have I dropped this story. Thanks for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** I'm glad you enjoyed, thank you so much! :D

 **That Sweet Bit:** Aha thank you! :D

 **Mads-Chikistorm:** I'm glad :) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Emocean:** Thank you so much! :)

 **Aominewolf:** Right now! :)

 **SapphireSushi:** I'm so happy you liked it! Thank you kindly for your review! :D

 **Guest (2):** Their 'friendship' (as we shall call it for now) is rocky at best but it's starting to work out. Miya's a pushy little bitch sometimes but Mikaela's a whiny asshole occasionally so they balance each other out XD I really enjoyed reading your review and I'm so happy you're enjoying the story, thank you so much! :D

 **^ DO Y'ALL SEE THIS?! SEE ALL OF THESE REPLIES? Y'ALL ARE MUCH TOO NICE TO ME OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE YOU ALL**

 **Thank you for your patience! :)**


	43. The Video

**Thank you so much to Skyfern, AmIValid2, Sayori1412, Mads-Chikistorm, ChubbyCheeks, Chipmunk, Lady Syndra, Kitty, Swaggishima, Tribble. Chan, fujoshin1, hannymae, Padgent, PhoenixBird06, jilyshiper, Anne Nonimus, ItaSasuHinaNaru, Rainbowwriter01, BL4CK-ROSE, what is socialising, Coral the Leviathan, SongOfEmerald, blueorangatan, Yozora Kuro, KaliRenee, Summer314, TwixXedlife, Chiri06, and TamashinoSuzume! Thank you! :D**

* * *

Mikaela hadn't even realized it was the last day of training camp until Fuki showed her the schedule for the day and it ended briefly after lunch. She'd asked, "why so soon?" and he'd remarked, "it's the last day of camp."

 _Last... Last day of camp? Already?_

Thankfully, he didn't need her for many drills today, so Mikaela mostly helped with paperwork: finalizing reports, printing player profiles, copying down the statistics into the folders. It was a nice opportunity to reflect on the chaotic volleyball camp week. She couldn't even believe everything that had transpired in the past few days: a fight with Kageyama, meeting Motoya and Chigaya (and Sakusa, she supposed), that video going viral, talking to Tsukishima, possibly getting back into volleyball _competitively..._

Mikaela had to pause what she was writing and exhale.

 _That's a lot for one week._

The pen she was using didn't seem to like being held in one place too long- ink blotted against the page. Mikaela sighed, lifted the pen, and kept writing. She'd seen Kageyama today and had avoided him like the plague, worried that he might still be angry. _Obviously, I can't avoid confrontation forever, but for now..._

She nearly jumped from her seat when Fuki wandered back into the office. "How're you doing?"

"Good," Mikaela replied, holding up the player profile for him to see. "Only have a few more to go."

"You know, you could've typed those."

"Yeah, but it's so much more satisfying when you write them. You know? The only problem is that my font style with my left hand is _slightly_ different than my right, so I have to stick with one hand throughout."

Fuki rolled his eyes. "Must be rough, only being able to write with one hand."

She smirked. "Yeah, painful."

"Anyways, Hujita wants to see you." Mikaela straightened up, suddenly a bit more awake. "Not right away. Finish up those profiles, then you can go see her, in her office. It should take you... fifteen more minutes?"

"Bet I can do it in ten," Mikaela said sharply, hand already drifting to the next page.

The coach sighed. "It's not a race, Mikaela."

"Me against the clock!"

With a sigh, he closed the door, leaving Mikaela to her player profiles in peace. Nine minutes later, she placed a neat stack of player profiles (organized alphabetically, of course) on the coach's desk and left to go see Hujita.

* * *

"That was a nice hit."

Mikaela blinked. "Sorry?"

Hujita smirked, leaning back in her seat. Her office was exactly the way it was when Mikaela had stopped by at the start of the week, but her desk was significantly cleaner of papers and files. "That video that went viral. There's probably not a soul in Japan who hasn't seen it by now." Mikaela flushed and was about to protest when Hujita interrupted. "Screw Japan, this is the Internet we're talking about here. Every person with social media has seen it by now. Namely, teenagers."

"Trust me, that wasn't my intention," Mikaela grumbled, slouching in her seat.

She laughed. "Regardless, you're famous now."

"Infamous is more like it."

"Same difference, really. You're getting _attention."_

Mikaela sighed, resisting the urge to hide her face in her hands. "Don't remind me."

"No, this is a good thing." Hujita perched her elbows on the desk and settled her chin into her palm, smirking at Mikaela like she had all of the world's answers. "A very good thing for you, actually. Because if you wanted to, you could gain a very big Internet following."

"That's... not necessarily a good thing," Mikaela said slowly, frowning. "A few people have tried to follow me, but I've got a private account, so-"

"You're not thinking business, sweetheart," Hujita interrupted, tapping her pen against the desk. "Listen for a second."

Mikaela would've been happy to oblige, except for one little detail. "Don't call me sweetheart."

The coach cocked an eyebrow. "Noted. Alright, think business. You let your little social media following grow. Suddenly, you've got hundreds, maybe thousands following you. Unless you decide to be an asshole on social media-" Mikaela coughed awkwardly into her arm, slightly alarmed by the coach's cursing- "you're going to get support. Especially with a story like yours. People will love you."

"And this helps me how?" Mikaela asked, still bewildered.

"So if you wanted to play volleyball," Hujita said, and _finally,_ Mikaela was interested. "If you wanted to play volleyball, say, on a national team. Or simply competing with your high school. Certain... _complications_ such as the legality regarding your prosthetic could be... let's say, overlooked."

Mikaela was lost. "What the hell does a social media following have to do with me playing volleyball?"

Hujita sighed, irritatingly tapping her pen against the desk. "If you'd let me finish, I could explain." Mikaela mimed zipping her lips, and after a hefty sigh, the coach continued on. "Companies love advertisement," she started, the corners of her lips twitching, "and they love viewers. Sports tournaments, for example- especially the bigger ones- receive television coverage. The games are live-streamed. Are they popular? Sort of. Not too much outside of the country, but they still garner a decent viewing.

"Lots of businesses and companies have been turning to social media for advertising because they've started to realize that they can get a lot of business from teenagers like you, who spend night and day on their phones." Mikaela didn't even try to protest- she just listened. It was starting to make sense, but... "Social media stars, like bloggers and such, get massive view counts no matter what they do. Post a photo, make a video of them playing video games..." Hujita waved her hand. "Who knows."

"So..." Mikaela trailed off awkwardly.

Hujita pointed her pen at the manager sharply, and Mikaela nearly flinched backwards. "Companies pull in the social media stars, because the Internet stars will post about it, and suddenly that company has gained publicity from a following of teenagers that never would've given them a second glance in a regular ad."

It _clicked._

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "You don't mean-"

"I mean, that for the sake of coverage and a possibly huge increase in viewing performance," Hujita said triumphantly, pleased that Mikaela had finally caught on, "they would be more than eager to let you play. You're an inspiration, not just to those with disabilities, but to anyone looking to improve in a sport. There's no excuse quite like yours, is there?"

"Would they seriously just let me play because I was in a video of me throwing my leg at a dumbass jerk?" Mikaela demanded, exasperated.

Hujita shrugged. "Most likely."

She didn't even know how to properly respond to that. "So..."

"The boys' team is headed to Nationals, right?" she asked, and Mikaela nodded. "Guaranteed, you'll get flagged down while you're there. Be prepped for an interview. Next year, if you return to Niiyama to play, that'll be right up the press's alley- Niiyama's already a popular team. If anything, they'll ask for you back personally. If you stay at Karasuno, chances are you could attract a couple big name rookies and build a team up yourself. Media would still follow you, but I'm not sure if you'd do well enough to make it where you want to go."

Mikaela pressed her hands to her head. "This is a lot."

Hujita nodded. "It is. You ready for it?"

"Nope."

"You'd better be. Have you decided where you're going next year?"

She was about to give her the answer she'd given everyone- no, she hadn't decided quite yet, there were so many positive factors about both school- but it was like something in her brain had just cleared the path.

"Yeah," Mikaela said firmly. "I know where I'm going next year."

Hujita smirked. "Good girl. Where would that be?"

She grinned.

* * *

The boys were all standing in a crowd, listening to Fuki as he wrapped up the week, giving them parting words and advice for moving forward. Mikaela hung around at the side of the gym, half listening and half thinking. Hujita had thrown a lot of information at her and Mikaela was still trying to comprehend the gravity of the situation.

 _How_ could a video gone viral have any influence on volleyball?!

It didn't make much sense.

Well, parts of it did. Celebrities get special treatment and special permissions, especially if they're not an asshole- that part Mikaela understood. But this video did _not_ make her a celebrity, and she definitely looked like the trashy one in the video.

Hujita had practically thrown a list of tips and tricks for surviving social media at her, and Mikaela didn't quite understand the purpose behind some of them. The coach had recommended that she share the video herself- something about making sure people on the Internet knew it was her. Mikaela supposed that made sense if her goal was to become social media famous.

She'd also suggested making an apology to Miya online so people could see she wasn't an asshole- why would she want to do that?

"This is dumb," Mikaela grumbled, watching the video roll for maybe the hundredth time.

The meeting adjourned, and the boys were sent back to their rooms to pack up their belongings. Mikaela swallowed nervously and waited as the boys walked by her, eyes searching for Kageyama. She desperately needed someone to talk to about this.

Unfortunately, the first one to meet her gaze was Miya, who was frowning at her. "What now?" he asked, stopping beside her. "Talked to your twin yet?"

Mikaela didn't even bother correcting him. "No. I'm waiting for him now."

Miya jerked his thumb at the door. "He already went by."

"What?" Mikaela spun around, glaring at the gym doors, and sure enough, Kageyama was just leaving. _How did I miss him? How..._ "Shit," she said with a sigh. "He's pissed."

"He'll be fine," the setter said, shrugging.

She rolled her eyes. "I know, but I still need to apologize."

"Good luck with that."

Miya had detached himself from the conversation and was headed towards the gym doors with the tail end of the group when something clicked inside Mikaela's head. "Hey, asshole."

He turned around. "What?"

"Can I add you on social media?"

Miya blinked slowly, seeming slightly confused and a bit perplexed. "...Why?"

She shrugged. "Keep in touch."

He still looked skeptical, but nevertheless, he accepted her phone from her and thumbed in his username. "Can't get enough of me?" Miya teased wryly, handing her phone back to her with a smirk on his face.

"You wish," Mikaela replied with a laugh, glancing at his profile. She tucked the phone in her pocket and grabbed onto her crutches, hobbling away in the opposite direction so that he couldn't follow her. "Don't worry, you'll regret it in about two minutes."

Mikaela wished she could've seen the expression on his face as he cried out, "two minutes? Why?"

"You'll see!"

 _"Asshole!"_

"Yup!"

Mikaela grinned like an idiot, shuffling towards the elevator and pressing the button. As soon as the doors opened and she moved inside, she pulled out her phone.

 _Let's see if this is what Hujita had in mind._

* * *

 ** _mikaelakai13:_** _*Video Upload*_

 ** _mikaelakai13:_** _Sorry (kinda) /miyaatsumu_

* * *

Mikaela had already packed up her stuff (she hadn't packed much) and made her way to Kageyama's room. It was almost instinct, really- who else would she go to?- but she knew she needed to suck it up and apologize. Plus, she wasn't sure that Kageyama could make it back to Karasuno without some sort of guidance. That boy could get himself lost in a broom closet.

She'd just turned down his hallway when she heard a door closing. Mikaela craned her neck and saw Kageyama leaving his room, having just shut the door behind him. She didn't even have time to hobble away or even turn; Kageyama glanced up and they made awkward eye contact.

Mikaela didn't know whether to laugh or cry; they were both much too stubborn to be the first to apologize. "Hi," she said awkwardly.

Kageyama shouldered his backpack. "Hi."

Silence followed the awkward greeting, both of them waiting to see who was going to cave first. Mikaela bit her lip, knowing it should be her but unwilling to say anything. Kageyama was not just her cousin, he was her best friend, and this fight was tearing apart something in her chest. He meant so much to her, and the fact it was going to be ripped away-

Mikaela blinked back tears and something in her chest collapsed. "I- I'msosorryI'msorry- I'm such a dumbass- I'm sorry- I didn't mean to-"

Her chest heaved with the effort, and Mikaela dropped her crutches and slid to the ground. "I'm sorry," she cried out, trying to keep the tears at bay and just calm down, but it wasn't working. "I should've discussed it with you, you're my best friend, I didn't mean to make you mad, I shouldn't have yelled, I... I'm so sorry," she babbled, tucking her face into her hands.

"I'm okay," she heard quietly, and Mikaela nearly sobbed with relief when she felt an arm around her back. She leaned into Kageyama, trying to calm herself down.

 _This isn't a big deal, stop being so vulnerable-_

There was something about being in Kageyama's arms that made her feel more at home than she ever was in her life. She shifted closer to him, exhaling shakily.

"I'm sorry too," Kageyama said quietly. "It's not my decision to make."

A weight lifted from Mikaela's shoulders, and she carefully maneuvered her arms so she was hugging him back. It was a bit awkward but it was warm and safe, and that was what mattered. "Still," she protested weakly. "I should've talked with you."

He didn't say anything else. They just sat there on the floor, huddled together, and Mikaela's head had never felt so clear.

 _Safe._

She'd never felt safer.

"We're going to miss our train."

Mikaela sighed, knowing Kageyama was right, and let him help her to her feet. He helped her get her hands back through the crutch's brace, then picked up his own bags. Quietly, they walked to the elevator.

"Have you decided?" Kageyama asked quietly, pressing the button.

Mikaela nodded as the elevator dinged. "Yeah."

"Tell me on the train."

So she did.

* * *

 ** _mikaelakai13:_** _*Video Upload*_

 ** _mikaelakai13:_** _Sorry (kinda) /miyaatsumu_

 _Comments:_

 _ **yamaguchitadashi343:**_ _iconic_

 ** _miyaatsumu:_** _rude -_-_

 ** _annenonimus:_** _omg it's really you!_

 ** _sozonari9:_** _you're terrifying_

 ** _sawamuradaichi1:_** _I see you had fun at training camp..._

* * *

It was an understatement to say Mikaela was floored when she saw Tsukishima waiting for them at the train station.

Kageyama was helping her out of the train and she had her eyes trained on the ground, trying to be as careful as she could with her crutches. She heard Kageyama say, "good, he's here," and she hadn't really understood what he meant until she looked up and saw Tsukishima seated on a nearby bench, on his phone.

Her heart did some sort of fluttery thing in her chest. It'd only been a week- maybe less- since she'd seen him, but she could've sworn he was prettier than when they last hung out. _Christ._ "Tsukishima?" Mikaela called, hobbling towards him at full force. "Tsukishima!"

He glanced up from his phone and smirked as soon as he saw her. "Oh, look," Tsukishima mocked, "it's our little celebrity."

Mikaela paused. Then she turned around, ready to get right back on the train. "Take me back to Tokyo, Kags."

"Shut up, Kaisha," Kageyama said with a roll of his eyes. "You're staying at his place tonight, remember?"

"No."

"Well, that's where you're staying. Mom's been back for a few days, she leaves tomorrow afternoon. So you can come tomorrow night."

Mikaela frowned. "Fine."

Tsukishima stood up from the bench, tucking his phone into his pocket. "Yamaguchi wanted to greet you too, but he's practicing serving with Shimada-san. He says hi though."

"I'll text him," Mikaela assured him, glancing at Kageyama. "Good to go?"

"Waiting for you," Kageyama said with a shrug.

"Dumbass."

"Rude."

They walked together until Kageyama had to break off and head in a separate direction. To Mikaela's relief, both of the boys had slowed their walking pace so that she could keep up with them. Even after Kageyama split up from the group, Tsukishima kept his pace slow and in time with her. He told her about the camp and the people that were there. Mikaela kept pressing him until he talked about the drills they did, what he liked, and what he didn't like.

"Overall, it wasn't as bad as thought it would be," Tsukishima admitted with a shrug. "You?"

Mikaela laughed weakly. "It was something."

Tsukishima smirked at her. "You're famous now."

"Am I actually?" she asked in surprise, glancing at him.

He nodded. "Since you posted the video on your account, people are going nuts. You're being tagged in all the posts now." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You've got three thousand followers now."

"I have _what?!"_

"That definitely wasn't your brightest plan. What exactly were you trying to accomplish?"

Mikaela filled him in on what Hujita had told her about social media presence and whatnot. "I don't entirely get it," she confessed, "but my odds of playing apparently increase."

"Makes sense," Tsukishima said with a shrug.

"Then please explain it to me."

"You're seriously too dumb to understand?"

Mikaela scowled at him, hobbling forward with renewed speed. "I just don't understand how my fate as a volleyball player is going to be determined by this dumb video! There's literally nothing about that video even volleyball related!"

Tsukishima smirked at her. "Idiot. If you're popular, lots of people like you or at the very least, find you amusing. Then, you're well known. Then, if you do something and post about it, that's basically free advertising."

"So, playing volleyball-"

"-will inspire people who like you to watch the matches," Tsukishima finished.

Mikaela straightened up, readjusting her hold on her crutches. "Oh. That makes a bit more sense."

"It finally got through your thick skull?"

"Oh, shut up."

They made their way back in relatively peaceful conversation. Mikaela talked about the various players- Sakusa, Motoya, Miya, Chigaya, and some of the others that had stood out- and even talked about Fuki. Tsukishima listened quietly and added his own little snarky comments here and there. By the time they'd arrived at his house, Mikaela was in a good mood; talking to Tsukishima had really cheered her up.

Ayano greeted her warmly when they entered, taking her bag for her and guiding her to the kitchen table. Whatever Ayano had made for dinner, it smelled _good,_ and even though Mikaela protested that she shouldn't be eating their food, Ayano waved her off. Apparently she'd cooked for three but Akiteru had a surprise meeting and had to take off, so she didn't mind.

After they'd eaten (she was hungrier than she thought) Ayano chirped, "I've got some work to get done. I'll be in my office if you need me." Mikaela helped her clear the table- it was the least she could do, after all- and Ayano vanished into her room, leaving Mikaela with Tsukishima.

Mikaela was going to awkwardly suggest something akin to homework when Tsukishima jerked his head to the living room. "Movie?"

"Movie? Really?" she asked in surprise.

He shrugged, looking away. Mikaela saw him put his hands together, lacing his fingers. For whatever reason, he wouldn't make eye contact with her. "I figured that you'd had a long week," he said with a scowl, glaring at the wall. "With the video and your fight and whatever."

Mikaela was touched. She managed, "yes, please."

Tsukishima's eyes finally met hers. "You're okay with that?"

"Of course," Mikaela said quickly, grinning. "That sounds amazing, actually. You've had a pretty rough week too."

The corners of his lips twitched. "Okay, I'll put a movie on," he agreed, turning towards the living room. "Assuming you can get to the couch, that is."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I'm not useless, moron."

She hobbled to the couch and plopped herself down, throwing her crutches to the ground by her feet. She'd assumed Tsukishima would rather take the other chair than sit next to her, but she was surprised yet again when he sat down next to her. He was close, too- their thighs were almost touching. Mikaela was half caught between wondering why she was noticing such dumb details and trying to calm her heart, which felt like it was going a mile a minute.

The movie started but Mikaela was too distracted to pay attention. Tsukishima was leaning against the back of the couch, his arm resting across the top of the cushions. All she had to do was lean back, and she'd be leaning into him. Cuddling. _Cuddling._

 _Come on, come on, it's not a big deal-_

So why was she so nervous?

 _Do it, you chicken, just-_

"Mikaela."

She nearly jumped. Mikaela turned to glance at Tsukishima, who had an eyebrow cocked at her. "The point of this was to help you relax," he teased, smirking at her.

Mikaela laughed. "I'm trying."

"Try harder," Tsukishima said with a smirk.

She quirked an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

He rolled his eyes. "Not everything is a challenge, your Highness."

Mikaela smiled softly and leaned back, letting her head fall on Tsukishima's shoulder. She pulled her legs up onto the couch, angling herself so that she was slanted into him. "This okay?" she murmured, her heart pounding against her rib cage like a jackhammer.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Obviously," he murmured into her ear, sending chills up her spine.

Mikaela sighed happily and snuggled closer into his side, her head dropping to rest on his chest. She had her ear pressed to his shirt, listening to his heartbeat. _Huh. He's as nervous as I am._

It's a good thing she wasn't invested in the movie, because not even ten minutes later, Mikaela fell asleep.

* * *

Ayano yawned to herself, gently shutting her laptop. She glanced at the clock and sighed- only 9:30, and she was already exhausted. She'd wanted to stay up until Akiteru got home, but she was just too tired.

"Kei?" she called out softly as she left her office. She could faintly hear music from the living room- perhaps he'd settled down with Mikaela to watch a movie. "Kei? What movie did you..."

Ayano trailed off when she entered the room. The credits of the movie were rolling with a gentle soundtrack playing as the words rolled across the screen. The reason her son hadn't been answering her was because he was fast asleep, cuddled up with Mikaela on the couch. He was on his back and she was on her side with her head rested on his chest and a hand on his stomach. Kei's arm was wrapped around her shoulder with his hand tangled in her hair. Their legs were a mess of tangled limbs.

She smiled softly, wishing she could take a photo of the moment but knowing Kei wouldn't appreciate it. "Kids these days," Ayano said with a happy sigh, watching Mikaela's head rise and fall as Kei breathed.

She didn't take a picture. Instead, Ayano shut off the television, grabbed a blanket from the spare room, and carefully set the blanket on top of them. Luckily, neither of them stirred.

How long had it been since she'd seen Kei so comfortable with anyone?

Ayano pursed her lips into a smile, internally thanking whomever or whatever led Mikaela Kaisha into her son's life.

* * *

 **I'm not dead! Hi!**

 **Okay, hold up: 300 reviews? Over 300 followers? You guys are much too kind, thank you all so much! I'm so honored. I'll work hard for you guys :)**

 **Skyfern:** Aha, yes I did :)

 **AmIValid2:** Yeah, I figured that her and Kageyama's relationship had been tense at most throughout the story and there needed to be an argument somewhere. Mikaela's school choice was a good opportunity for that. I'm glad I could help you relax during your midterm season! I just finished my last one on Thursday and it was quite stressful XD Thank you for your review!

 **Sayori142:** You're right, questions are almost gone... They'll be put to good use, I promise. I'm not sure if I want to use Miya as a 'love rival' (most likely not) but I really liked his dynamic with Mikaela which is why his character was so prominent in this arc. Thank you for your review! :)

 **Mads-Chikistorm:** Aw thank you! I'm so glad you like it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, then ;) Thank you so much for your review!

 **hannymae:** The manga has me DEAD. I'm still trying to deal with the last few chapters but I'm liking the most recent one. For all his salt, Tsukishima is surprisingly smooth XD Thank you for your review! :D

 **Padgent:** 'peasants could never' had be DEAD XD Thank you for your review! As for that last question, you'll have to wait and see... ;)

 **Tribble.** **Chan** : I'm so glad you liked it! Yeah, I was wondering how Iwaizumi would act and then it was like... well, as a supportive Dad of course ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kitty:** You're right- Hanamaki and Matsukawa don't know about her prosthetic- well, at least, they _didn't._ Mikaela was pretty good friends with them, but not as close to them as she was with Oikawa and Iwaizumi. Thank you for the suggestions! I'm not sure how future events will play out but we'll have to see ;) Thank you for your reviews! :)

 **Anne Nonimus:** I'm glad you like the flow of the story! It's really hard sometimes to find a good pace and connect the events of the story so I'm glad you like how I do it. Thank you kindly for your review! :D

 **Chipmunk:** No problem! ;)

 **Lady Syndra:** You're totally right. I was trying to sugarcoat it in previous chapters, but it's kinda obvious that Karasuno's female team isn't good. At all. But you're right again, high school is just one step on the path to the future. And honestly? The manga has totally thrown a wrench at me because I was expecting some second and third year stuff and now I have to... not do that? Ugh. Anyways, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **ChubbyCheeks:** Of COURSE Osamu saw and is laughing his ass off ;) You'll see a sneak peek of that next chapter. And I agree with you! Mikaela's very hung up on her Niiyama team and needs to get over herself. I'm glad you pointed this out because it shows I've made a character with good and bad qualities, which I tried hard to do because I detest Mary-Sues XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Swaggishima:** I'm glad you liked it! Thank you so much! :D

 **PhoenixBird06:** Your review killed me XD I like to picture the Double Glare (TM) as something like that and I'm so glad you put it into words! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **jilyshiper:** Bruh I'm so conflicted that I'm still leaving it out XD Iwaizumi's just a really wholesome dude, what can I say? Thank you kindly ;) PM you soon! :D

 **fujoshin1:** Mikaela is her surname! Don't worry, I spent a lot of time trying to understand the customs behind names and formalities. I'm not sure what you mean by 'her dad picked it out'- she got the name from her father. Her father's surname was also Mikaela. Her first name is Kaisha. Her father never should've called her by her surname, he would only call her Kaisha. I've reread my first chapters and the only spot I found where he calls her Mikaela is the flashback in chapter 4 when they're in the hospital- he was trying to get her attention and snap her out of her rant. He would normally call her Kaisha. Thanks for your review! :)

 **The manga has thrown a wrench in my plans for future chapters. Hmph. If you're equally freaked out by the past few chapters and still haven't completely recovered, please know I'm in the same boat.**

 **Love you all. Thank you for the endless support! I appreciate it :D**


	44. The Coffee Date

**Thank you so much to myherogal22, S. yons, hannymae, Sayori1412, Shadow Wolf 15846, Swaggishima, Kitty, Aominewolf, Skyfern, Mads-Chikistorm, Tribble. Chan, OTrizy, Idkwhatimdoing, Guest, Danikm97, reddyeru, Chipmunk, Zorua1, ChaosHearth, SupMyDudez, Padgent, K. A Astral, fairytailbunchan, Dragonrider080801, Elmo96, Jem Juliette Jewels Jade, Jencker, Monki91, neha. a12310, lalalalalalalalalalalalalalal, Autumnokami, bbymojo, sakurablossom142, swirler44, ABC24DEF21, Spinsword7, JaRMie, UsagiVhiie, GrimReaper606, Koalabear14ismine, Tobi Rose, hatakehoe, Randoms-glowsticks, dont walk in the rain storm, BringOnTheChaos95, Criesintokyo, Nonrial, Sakura Ojou, emmy3612, yodahet21gmail. com, AkemiMimi, hazelasian19, Genode, Mwayomi, SilverMist155, swagmoney5, PrettyInPlaid, hanzsolo2, marytaby8, i've got no life, CloudZzFluffyBedsOfWhite, Kagome2909, TamashinoSuzume, AvaFyre, Midnitewhispers, KatsumiXHime, Kath3rin, jaroheartz, moonchild-things, RebelAshRunner, FrostedMelody297, xSuccubusQueen, tsuyukistune, GawkyTC, Ary-Knight, Brallis10, Lizzibennet, and annisarizqulloh23!**

 ** _Holy shit there's so many of you what the heck did I do to deserve this-_**

* * *

"I'm home," Miya Atsumu called loudly, not expecting anyone to answer to his return home, despite being gone for a week. Osamu was probably shut up in his room, and his parents were... at work, probably. He sighed, kicking off his shoes and tugging his bag in the doorway. "So nice to be loved," he muttered sarcastically.

"Sumu? You home?"

He stiffened, surprised. "Osamu? You're-"

There was a loud slam of the door that shut Atsumu up. Footsteps thundered down the hallway and Osamu slid into view in the front doorway, the biggest smirk on his face. Atsumu was startled- what had gotten into his brother?- and before he could bring it up and ask, Osamu shoved a phone in his face.

"Hey! What-"

"Who is this girl," Osamu said, his voice practically a wheeze, "and can I marry her?"

Atsumu's jaw dropped. "Hey!"

"I mean," he laughed, replaying the video, "what a shot."

 _"Samu!"_

"So what'd you say? Did you insult her?"

"Shut up!"

"Did it hurt? _Please_ say it hurt-"

 _"Shut up!"_

* * *

Mikaela blinked the sleep out of her eyes wearily. How long had she been sleeping? Had she fallen asleep on Tsukishima's shoulder like last time? That'd be kind of nice, honestly.

She opened her eyes completely and realized that that was _not_ the case.

Mikaela was completely and totally tangled up with Tsukishima on the same couch that she was supposed to be sleeping on- alone, that is- and it was only six in the morning. They had practice at seven. Her arm was tucked awkwardly under her head and her other hand was on his chest. She shifted slightly and froze- his hand was tangled in her hair, and her legs were intertwined with his.

"What the..." she muttered under her breath, letting her head sink back onto her arm awkwardly.

Oh, she was _never_ moving. Hell, could she skip school? How nice would that be?

Mikaela snuggled back into the warmth of Tsukishima- hang on, where'd the blanket come from? Why'd they have a blanket on top of them?- and closed her eyes again, silently praying to fall asleep again. Unfortunately, she never did fall asleep again, but she didn't move at all until Tsukishima started to wake up.

"Mm..." Mikaela nearly flinched when she heard him mumble. "What..."

"Shut up," she murmured back, nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck.

"Mik?" he croaked tiredly. "What time is it?"

Mikaela's heart nearly exploded from the spontaneous use of a new nickname and she struggled to keep her voice steady when she replied. "Almost six thirty. We have time."

He sighed, and they were quiet for another moment before Tsukishima said, "Your Highness, my arm's asleep."

Mikaela rolled her eyes but smiled to herself, using her hands to prop herself up so she was in a seated position, not on Tsukishima's legs. Yawning, Tsukishima sat up next, adjusting his glasses (he'd slept with those on? Yikes) and squinting at the clock across the room. He grumbled something that Mikaela couldn't catch and pushed himself to his feet.

"Thank you," Mikaela said softly.

He turned around and cocked an eyebrow at her. "For?"

"For..." she trailed off, then waved vaguely at the couch. "That."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and trudged off to his room. Mikaela heard the quiet slam of the door behind him. She frowned, glaring up at the ceiling. What was she doing? Cuddling with Tsukishima, cheek kisses, holding hands- what the hell? What were they? Were they a couple? She liked him, and she knew that well enough. From the looks of it, he liked her too- hopefully. Maybe? Or was he just pitying her?

Mikaela groaned, leaning back against the couch and smacking her head off the wall. "Fuck," she scowled, squeezing her eyes shut. _I don't want to go to school. Not after that nightmare of a weekend._

"Fuck what?"

Mikaela didn't even look at him. "Well, Tsukishima, we have to go to school. Fuck school."

"Fair enough," he replied, and she finally opened her eyes and nearly coughed. He was wearing his track pants (probably over top of his shorts) and collared shirt for school, but he'd left the shirt unbuttoned, exposing his chest. Mikaela immediately turned her head to the side before she could stare. "Worried because of that video?" Tsukishima asked, apparently unaware of her crisis.

"Yeah," she admitted, glaring at the door. _Don't look. Don't look. Don't you dare-_

"Guaranteed, Yuka and Kahano are going to apologize to you today."

Mikaela couldn't help but look at him now. He had two buttons done up and was working his way up, but Mikaela's eyes still traveled to his chest before jerking up to meet his gaze. "Apologize?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow. "For what?"

Tsukishima shrugged. "Well, from what I heard about your fight with Yuka, you blurted out you had a metal leg. Judging by the rumors that followed, no one knew whether to believe you or not."

She groaned, sinking into the couch. "Great. Maybe they haven't seen the video."

"You literally posted the video yourself."

"...forgot about that."

"Idiot. Go get changed."

Mikaela scowled. "Fine." She stood up, completely forgetting that she needed her crutches, and toppled over. Tsukishima lunged forwards, grabbing her shoulder and steadying her. Mikaela sighed and righted herself, then grabbed her bag from the floor and her crutches and started heading towards the bathroom. She paused and turned around. "Should I wear my leggings?"

He frowned. "Why would you?"

"Um, because I _always_ wear my leggings?"

"Well, what've you got to hide?"

Mikaela's mouth opened and closed. Her legs still had a decent amount of scars and such, but admitting that to Tsukishima made something in her gut twist. Instead, unknown confidence surged through her and the words tumbled from her lips before she even realized what she was saying. "Someone really wants to see me show some skin," she teased.

 _What the heck did I just-_

Tsukishima seemed surprised at first, but his face twisted into a smirk. "Says the one who was staring at my chest not even a minute ago."

To that, Mikaela had nothing, so she ducked into the bathroom and locked it behind her. She could hear Tsukishima laughing from behind the door.

The thought kept coming back to her.

 _What are we?_

She didn't know- but there was someone who might have an idea.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (6:31):**_ _...I need help._

 ** _Tanaka Saeko (6:33):_** _I gotchu ;)_

After arranging a coffee run with Saeko after practice that evening, Mikaela changed into her uniform. Not wearing leggings felt weird- the cool air on her knees was so bizarre- and Mikaela traced her finger up her prosthetic, the dread starting to build in her chest. She did _not_ want to go to school. Why did she think sharing that video was a good idea? Why?

Mikaela leaned against the wall, exhaling shakily. It wasn't even the prosthetic that bothered her; her legs were practically deranged. Her prosthetic was connected just under her knee, and her knee had blistering red scars swirling around it like a halo. It wasn't that bad after that, but her other leg was worse. Angry red lines ran up and down her calves and there was a chunk of her shin that was dug out like a hole.

The worst was the front of her left thigh. It was sunken in, bubbled, and completely deformed, but only in a small(ish) area just above her knee. All in all, her legs were disgusting. Why would she want these on display?

 _No. No way._

Mikaela was about to pull her leggings on when Tsukishima called, "you good in there?"

"Putting on my leggings," she called back, glaring at the floor. Angry tears pricked the corners of her eyes. _Why am I like this?_ "Be- be out in a second."

"Leggings?" she heard him mutter, and Mikaela bit her lip and paused. "I thought you weren't going to."

She sighed. "Tsukishima, unfortunately there's more to my legs than just metal."

"Skin?" he said sarcastically.

Mikaela chuckled weakly. "Scars."

There was silence from the other side of the door. Mikaela gulped, wondering if she said the wrong thing. Did he care? Would he dismiss it as something dumb? That she was insecure? Mikaela's worries were interrupted when she heard him say, "can I see?"

Could he see? Could he _see?_

Mikaela stared down at her legs, wondering how far she could pull down her skirt to cover as much as she could. To be fair, most of scars were on her lower thighs and below- not much she could cover up. "...No," she muttered, standing up. She jammed her hoodie and pajamas into her bag. Mikaela seized the waistband of her leggings and tugged, pulling them up to her knees.

"I won't judge you."

Mikaela paused. "It's embarrassing."

"Your scars aren't embarrassing."

"Yes, they are." She blinked rapidly, trying to repress her tears. "And maybe you don't think so, but everyone else will."

Tsukishima was quiet for a moment, and Mikaela was ready to pull her leggings up all the way until he said softly, "since when do you care what others think?"

"I always have."

"Have you ever considered not giving a shit?"

Mikaela scowled. "It's not that easy."

"Yeah, it is. I do it every day."

"I'm not you, dumbass."

"Then do it to spite me."

"You know, I just might, you asshole."

 _Fuck it._

Mikaela stripped the leggings off, shaking her feet until they fell off her legs. With a huff, she jammed them in her backpack and stood up shakily, refusing to look down. She grabbed her crutches, threw her bag over one shoulder, grabbed the doorknob, and tugged sharply, trying to ignore how badly she was shaking.

Tsukishima was leaning against the wall, facing the door. To her surprise, he met her eyes and didn't look down. She glared at him, doing her best to hold his gaze. His eyes trailed over her legs and Mikaela did her best to keep glaring him down. "Well, you weren't joking when you said it was bad," he said eventually.

She rolled her eyes, her heart thundering in her chest. "Yep."

"Good to go, then?"

"I hate you for making me do this out of spite."

He smirked. "Well, it worked, didn't it?"

"I _hate_ you."

"Bold of you to assume I care."

On that happy note, the duo left for school. Mikaela pulled her socks up as high as they would go (only mid-calf, but it offered her some sort of security) and her grip on her crutches tightened. She was only on the crutches for another... two weeks? Three weeks? She'd lost track. She was sort of excited to get back to practice- she missed the team.

They arrived closer to seven than Mikaela would've liked; it couldn't really be helped with her walking pace. "Hurry up," Tsukishima joked as he made his way up the stairs to the door.

Mikaela scowled and pulled her crutches up a step. "Funny."

Tsukishima held the door open for her as she hobbled inside the gym. The middle blocker followed. The team called over their greetings, and upon realizing that _Mikaela_ was the one in the door, Tanaka and Nishinoya practically exploded.

"Mikaela!" Nishinoya shrieked, leaping at her. "That video!"

"That was insane!" Tanaka agreed loudly.

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's not a big deal-"

"Don't be picking fights with other schools," Daichi called from across the gym, raising an eyebrow at her. "No matter how much he deserved it."

"He did," she mumbled, pinching her lips together.

Yamaguchi popped over to give her a quick hug and compliment her on the video. The support was very welcome and Mikaela wanted to melt into Yamaguchi's hug right then and there. The next 'negative' comment came from her cousin. "You're late," Kageyama called, bouncing a volleyball off the ground.

Mikaela scowled. "My walking speed is half of yours, asshole."

"Kaisha!" Hinata called, bouncing up and down excitedly. "How was the camp?"

"Good!" she called back, her eyes following his motion. "How was yours?"

Hinata instantly stiffened, cringing. He slouched, his face wide with a grimace; he looked like he was worried about being scolded. _I guess he didn't realize I knew he crashed the camp._ "...Good?" he said questionably, shrugging.

She smirked at him. "As long as it wasn't a waste."

"It wasn't!" Hinata assured her. He turned back to Kageyama. "Set it for me!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes as the duo went right back to practice, their conversation already forgotten. Sugawara popped by to ask her something about the camp and his eyes drifted to her legs. Mikaela prepared herself for something about her scars, but Sugawara only said, "aren't you cold?" and Mikaela wanted to cry.

"No, Mom," she said with a weak laugh, and Sugawara flushed before heading back to practice.

The boys started with their serving drills, and Mikaela could immediately see the difference from when she was last at practice- especially Tanaka. He'd gone onto trying jump serves, which was good- the team needed more strong servers. Kinoshita's floating serves had also increased in power exponentially; Nishinoya failed to receive a few of them and punished himself through fingertip push-ups. Mikaela hobbled by, calling for him to work on his overhands, then glanced at the court as Kageyama went up to serve.

He'd adjusted his form slightly since camp, and Mikaela thought it was working for him. He had two forms- one where his serve would head dead straight like a spike, and one where he'd twist slightly and his serve would curve accordingly. Mikaela had picked it up quickly enough, but she didn't even know if Kageyama noticed it was happening.

"Kags-" she called, about to let him know, when the weirdest thing happened. Hinata slipped into position to receive Kageyama's serve. Although the receive wasn't fantastic, the ball still went up rather than sideways.

It was the fact that Hinata had gotten into position that shocked her. _Maybe that training camp really was good for him._ Mikaela smiled to herself and hobbled over to Coach Ukai, who was going over a play sheet with Shimizu.

"Mikaela," he said in greeting, raising his eyebrows at her. "I take it you had an enjoyable week."

"You could say that," she said with a grin, shrugging. "I got a lot of really good data for players we might face, so that was good."

The coach hummed in agreement. "We-"

"Had a serving week?" Mikaela interrupted. "I can tell." Ukai rolled his eyes, and Mikaela continued- he'd gotten pretty used to her interrupting him by now. "I don't know if you've picked up on Tobio's tells, but I can give them to you if you want. Also, if serving was all you did for a week, it's a shame that Tsukishima and Hinata missed it. Especially Hinata."

Ukai nodded. "It looks like his time was well spent, though."

"Yeah, that receive was unexpected."

"And what do you mean, Kageyama's tells? He doesn't have tells."

"Yes, he does. He doesn't know them yet either." Mikaela propped herself up on her crutches and stuck her arms out, trying to mimic her cousin's actions. "His serves either go laser straight and dip at the last second, or they spike down and curve as they do it. He doesn't even know he does it- he thinks it's because it's hitting his palm wrong. It's his last step- his foot will twist slightly as he steps off."

"And that's enough to throw off his serve," Ukai said slowly.

She shrugged. "It doesn't really... throw it off, I guess. It changes the final direction."

Ukai frowned at her for a moment, then sighed and turned back to watching the boys serve. "You're ridiculous."

"Thanks?"

"And you're right, actually," he continued, flipping a sheet on his clipboard. "I hadn't considered that Tsukishima and Hinata both missed out on the serving practice." Ukai tapped his pen against his chin. "Kageyama missed it too, but he's one of our strongest servers so that's not an issue. I could get Tsukishima and Hinata to learn jump serves, but we have less than a month until nationals and I don't think it'd be game ready by then, especially with everything else we have to work on."

Mikaela deflated, pouting. He was right, obviously. She was being a bit too ambitious.

Something clicked in her head. She turned to the coach. "What if it's not a jump serve?"

Ukai raised an eyebrow. "Unless you're about to suggest they both learn float serves, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Well, there's more serves than just jump serves and floater serves. And jump floaters." Mikaela looked up at Coach Ukai, her eyes sparkling with ideas. "To prep for the training camp, I watched a bunch of videos of the players I suspected were going to be there. Since they're top tier, I watched a lot of nationals videos. You'd be surprised by the variety of serves that're there."

"I hadn't considered that," he admitted. "Like what?"

"Have you ever heard of ceiling serves?"

Ukai's eyes widened. "I have. I never considered them because they're impossible to practice here without a high enough ceiling. We'll see them at nationals, though."

Mikaela nodded. "Probably. It's not common because people adjust to them fairly quickly, but they're good for pinch servers."

"That's not something I can teach," Ukai said solemnly as Yamaguchi's jump floater sailed out of bounds. "There's a trick to those and we don't have the space to teach it."

She pursed her lips. "Well... we don't have to teach it to them, but we can prepare them for it."

"How do you suggest we do that?"

"...Can you get me up into the rafters?"

Ukai's jaw slipped open and he cranked his neck to glare up at the ceiling, then looked back at her. "Absolutely not."

"Please?"

"Mikaela, you are on _crutches."_

"Your point?"

"You're ridiculous."

She grinned. "I do have a plan though. Could I steal Nishinoya for half an hour at the start of practice tonight? And Hinata for a bit after?"

Ukai sighed. "As long as you're not doing anything dangerous."

"That's yet to be determined."

 _"Mikaela."_

"Fine, fine, minimal danger."

"No danger."

"No promises."

* * *

The rest of practice went smoothly. Mikaela helped with some of the drills but spent a lot of time observing and scribbling down some notes about what she could do for their practice after class. Nationals were coming up, and the practices were occurring more and more often- not that she minded.

The only problem was, Mikaela wanted to practice all day, not go to class.

Practice finished. She helped the boys take down the net, put the volleyballs in the storage room, returned some of her notes to Coach Ukai, then waited by the doors for Yamaguchi and Tsukishima.

Kageyama exited the change room before they did and paused in front of her. "No leggings?" he asked, eyes dropping to her legs and then back up to her.

She shrugged. "Regretting it already."

"Why?"

Mikaela could've kicked him. "Kags, are you serious? My legs..." she trailed off, gesturing vaguely to her legs.

He looked down. "So? Everyone's got scars."

"As bad as these?" she protested, rolling her eyes. "Besides, even if your point actually made sense, not everyone has a prosthetic."

"Obviously," Kageyama said, knitting his eyebrows together. "Dumbass."

"So what's your point?"

"It's cool. You'll be fine."

"Wow, you're _so_ reassuring."

"Seriously, Kai." Kageyama leaned forward and hugged her quickly. "Everybody's going to be too scared to even look at you, let alone talk to you. You'll be fine." He pulled back, patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, then headed out to his class. Mikaela sighed to herself, trying to focus on what he said (and praying he was right).

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi emerged from the change room a few moments later, and together they headed off to class. Before they'd even made it to the main building, they'd passed four people, three of which had did a double-take and stared at her legs for much longer than they needed to.

"I can't do this," Mikaela muttered under her breath.

Yamaguchi turned. "What'd you say, Kaela?"

"N- Nothing."

"Nervous?" Yamaguchi supplied, and Mikaela sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. Of course it was obvious. "Tsukki and I will be by your side the whole day. You've got nothing to be scared of."

Mikaela straightened up, forcing a smile on her face. "Thanks, Tadashi."

He grinned, his freckles stretching across his cheeks. "Don't worry, Tsukki and I will take on anyone who looks at you wrong!" He pumped a fist in the air, turning to look at Tsukishima. "Right, Tsukki?"

The blond sighed. "Shut up, Yamaguchi."

Yamaguchi rolled his eyes and grabbed the door, pulling it open for her. "After you," he joked.

Mikaela steeled herself and forced a smile on her face. "Thank you," she said gratefully, hobbling after Tsukishima. Yamaguchi pulled up the rear. The middle blocker grabbed the next door and held it open for her, and now Mikaela was hobbling into the school hallway filled with gossiping teenagers and this was _not_ a good idea and holy _shit_ why were they all staring- _you know why they've staring, dumbass-_ and she gulped.

"Class?" Tsukishima asked, nudging her shoulder.

She hadn't even realized that she'd frozen in the middle of the hallway. "Yeah- Yeah, let's do that," she stammered, forcing herself to move forward.

Mikaela did her best to tune out everything around her, but it felt like everywhere she turned, _someone_ was looking at her or _someone_ was talking about her or _someone_ had that damn video open on their phone. She'd asked for this: she re-posted the video, she had her prosthetic on display. Maybe she was just too paranoid. Yes, that was it. _I'm too paranoid._

Yamaguchi held the door to the classroom open for her. Tsukishima walked in first, which she was grateful for, because it gave her something to hide behind. Nevertheless, the chatter and usual buzz of the classroom died when they walked in, and Mikaela felt every set of eyes on her.

 _Let them stare. Who cares?_

Mikaela snorted. _I care, damn it._

There was the screech of a chair pushing against the floor as Kahano stood up from her seat and glared pointedly at Yuka. It felt like everyone in the room was holding their breath as Yuka begrudgingly stood up next to Kahano.

Kahano kicked her best friend in the ankle. Yuka scowled, then bowed. "I'm sorry," she said forcefully, refusing to look up at her.

She rose and glared at Mikaela, waiting for a response. Tsukishima was giving her an 'I-told-you-so' look and Mikaela smirked. "For?" she prompted, unable to keep the smirk from creeping up on her face.

"For- You know what for!" Yuka spluttered, crossing her arms.

Mikaela cocked her head, still smirking. "No, I don't. I'm dumb, remember?"

Yuka's face darkened. "I'm sorry for making fun of you for your leggings," she said shortly, pulling herself up to her full height, "since it's clear now why you did it."

There was a bit of an edge in her tone that suggested she was trying to taunt her, but Mikaela just laughed. "Yep. Pretty ugly, right?"

"Is that really you?" someone else piped up. Mikaela turned to see one of the boys in their class talking to her. She couldn't place his name. "In the video," he clarified, eyes wide. "Did you really throw your leg at a guy?"

Mikaela tightened her grip on her crutches and swung her leg up, bringing her prosthetic into view. "Yep." She tilted her head to Yuka. "You're lucky you were close enough to punch," she taunted, grinning.

Yuka's jaw tightened and she leaned forwards like she wanted to march towards her, but Kahano grabbed her with two hands. "Don't," Kahano warned. "She's provoking you."

 _Damn right I am._ "Yep," Mikaela agreed, straightening up. "I am."

"I apologized," the black-haired girl insisted icily.

"Sincerely?" she said lowly, referring to their last dispute when Yuka had insisted Mikaela's apology to Kahano wasn't genuine. Yuka's face went red- apparently she remembered that too.

Mikaela's next insult was at the tip of her tongue, so she bit it to stay quiet. She was being nasty enough already. The look in Yuka's eyes was dangerous, and Mikaela was tempted to glare right back. But for whatever reason, it was so much more satisfying to stand up straight (well, as much as she could, anyways) and smirk, like she was above all of the petty anger.

The teacher entered the classroom a moment later, and Mikaela broke eye contact with Yuka to scurry to her seat. Kahano and Yuka both sat down and turned to the front so they had their backs to her. Mikaela sat alone, thankfully, with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi just in front of her. Yamaguchi gave her a quick thumbs up before turning towards the teacher. If the teacher had noticed something was awry, she didn't give any indication of it: her eyes lingered on Mikaela for a second longer than they should've before she continued with the lessons.

Classes came and went, and Mikaela was starting to realize how behind she was. By the time lunch had rolled around, Mikaela's brain was fried and she was ready to crawl back into bed. However, she had no such luck.

"So this is you?" someone asked almost immediately after they'd been dismissed, thrusting a phone in her face.

Mikaela didn't even have to look to know it was her. "If you keep that phone in my face," she snapped angrily, "I _will_ shatter it."

The boy retracted his hand slightly, giving Mikaela a bit more room to breathe, but didn't back down. "So it's you?"

"Yep," Mikaela confirmed, propping her elbow up on the desk and leaning her chin into her palm. "Is that all?"

He seemed kind of miffed that she was so cold, but Mikaela wasn't willing to deal with a couple dozen students asking "is this you?" over and over again. She'd reposted the video herself, damn it- they should know it was her by now.

"Oh, is that Kageyama-kun? From class 1C?"

Mikaela perked up, looking to one of the girls who had the video out on her phone. She held it out to Mikaela helpfully, and this time, Mikaela focused on Kageyama. She knew it was him, but for outsiders watching, it was hard to tell. She threw the crutch, stopped to talk to Kageyama for a split second, and then everything went to shit.

Watching the video, she could see how most people would brush him off- he was blocked by her for a good chunk of the video- but she was surprised people had recognized him. "Huh," Mikaela said thoughtfully, leaning back into her chair. "I'm surprised you recognized him."

"Where were you guys?" she asked.

Since she wasn't pushy or overly nosy, Mikaela sighed to herself and tried to go along with it. "A volleyball training camp. I was there to help the coaches, he was there to train."

"You're the boys' volleyball manager, right?" a second girl piped up, and Mikaela nodded. "Is it fun?"

 _Is it... fun?_ Mikaela exchanged a quick glance with Yamaguchi, who grinned. "Most of the time," she agreed. "Sometimes I have to put up with some real jerks, but it could be worse."

"Like who?"

"Tsukishima over here isn't exactly a ray of sunshine."

The blond scowled and stood up from his spot, slamming his notebook shut. "Come on, your Highness, let's go eat."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine by me." Mikaela grabbed her crutches and hoisted herself up, careful not to fall over. Yamaguchi stood up as well, grabbing her backpack for her. "Thanks," she said awkwardly to the two girls in front of her.

They both looked at each other, then back to Mikaela. "For what?" the first girl asked.

"For being nice enough to give me space," she quipped, shooting a glare at the first boy that had come up to her. He shrank back, avoiding her gaze. Together, she, Yamaguchi, and Tsukishima left to find their usual empty classroom for lunch.

 _It's not even halfway through the day, and I'm already completely drained._

* * *

Mikaela was never approached again for the remainder of the day (she suspected it had something to do with the way Kageyama and Tsukishima were glaring at people) but there were still enough people staring at her for Mikaela to know that this wasn't something that was going to be dropped anytime soon. People were going to gossip for a while.

At practice that night, Mikaela had a checklist of things she wanted to get done, and the first of those things was practice for Nishinoya. The boys were starting to warm up, and Mikaela hobbled over to talk to Ukai. "Coach!" she called. "Can I steal Nishinoya now?"

"Dare I ask what for?" Ukai said with a sigh.

"Nope. I'll bring him back in fifteen minutes, in one piece."

He sighed. "Fine."

Mikaela beamed. "Nishinoya!" she yelled, startling the libero. He was stretching in the corner of the gym with Tanaka and Kinoshita but he perked up when Mikaela called for him.

"What's up?" he yelled back.

"We're leaving!"

"What?"

"Just- Come here!"

Nishinoya popped up from his spot on the floor and jogged over to her. "What're we doing?" he asked, putting his hands on his hips. "Is it more lefty spike training?"

"I think you've had enough of that," Mikaela said with a laugh. "Nah, we're going to go visit the soccer team."

He paused. Whatever he had thought was going to happen, it most certainly wasn't that. "Wait, what?"

"I'll explain on the way. They're in the other gym." Nishinoya didn't need to be told twice; he jumped towards the door and threw it open for her. Mikaela hobbled out and started getting herself down the stairs as Nishinoya jogged after her. "We're going to take fifteen minutes of the soccer kids' time. I emailed the captain and he agreed to it, so it should be okay."

"Mikaela, why the heck are we going to the soccer kids?" Nishinoya asked, bounding down the stairs.

"We're going to teach you how to dribble."

Nishinoya stopped. Like, physically halted on the path. Mikaela kept going for a moment, then paused and turned around to him. She smirked as his eyes widened. "Oh! Oh- wow! I never thought of that!"

She nodded eagerly and they both started moving again. Nishinoya was practically skipping down the path. "I figured, since you technically can use your feet in volleyball," Mikaela explained, grinning, "and I've seen you make quite a few saves with your feet, why not figure out how to optimize your foot saves? Like, if you're going to save it with your foot-"

"I may as well make it awesome!" Nishinoya finished, pumping his fist in the air.

Mikaela laughed. "Yeah. That."

They arrived at the gym- since the drop in temperature, the team had taken to practicing skills indoors rather than outdoors- and Mikaela debated knocking on the door, but Nishinoya made the decision for her and just burst right in. "Cool!" he called, jumping into the gym. "Soccer!"

"Noya-" Mikaela sighed and shuffled into the gym, letting the door close behind her. The practice, thankfully, continued without focusing on Nishinoya or herself. Nishinoya grabbed a discarded soccer ball and turned it over in his hands. Fortunately, the captain noticed them and wandered over. "Nishinoya!" Mikaela hissed, smacking him lightly in the leg with her crutch.

"You must be Mikaela," he said, holding out his hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

"And you're the captain, Matsuo Nao?" she asked, shaking his hand. "Thanks for agreeing to help us out."

Matsuo grinned. "Anytime for a celebrity such as yourself."

Mikaela immediately stiffened and pulled her hand away. "Uh- yeah. Thanks." She bit her tongue, knowing that it was in fact _her_ who was asking for a favor and he owed them nothing. If that meant putting up with this for fifteen minutes, she could do that. "Yeah, like I said in my email, I just wanted to know if you could-"

"Show him how to dribble," the captain finished. "Yeah, I thought about that. I figured showing him keep-up would be the closest to volleyball."

"Sounds good," Mikaela agreed. "What can I do?"

Matsuo shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Naniko!" A boy who Mikaela vaguely remembered from her class trotted over, a soccer ball tucked under his arm. "Remember what I mentioned earlier?"

Naniko blinked. "That a volleyball player was coming over for a bit?"

"Yep. This is him." Matsuo gestured to Nishinoya, who was trying to spin the soccer ball on his finger. "Show him keep up." Naniko nodded, took a long look at Mikaela, then beckoned to Nishinoya. The pair trotted off further into the gym. "He's a first year, but he's one of the best ball handlers we have."

"Thanks again," Mikaela said quickly, shifting anxiously on her crutches. "It's just a little thing, but hopefully it'll help him somewhat in a game."

The captain hummed in agreement. "I'm happy to help."

Mikaela shuffled away from the captain ever so slightly, pretending to be interested in what Naniko was teaching Nishinoya. From the looks of it, he was pointing at different parts of his feet that he used to kick the ball. Nishinoya was nodding along enthusiastically, occasionally demonstrating moves he would use on the court. She hobbled closer, and the captain (thankfully) went back to his practice, calling his team into a huddle with the exception of the first year that was teaching Nishinoya. Mikaela sighed to herself. _Hopefully this is worth it._

The soccer boys split up and seemed to be practicing passing in some sort of complex drill where people switched places and the ball was constantly moving. Mikaela saw a few of the guys staring at her from time to time and tried her best to ignore them.

The minutes flew by, and Mikaela watched with a grin on her face and Nishinoya easily started matching Naniko's speed and then moving faster on his own. He kicked up the soccer ball and bounced it repeatedly off the top of his feet, keeping it straight up and in front of him. Mikaela was impressed; that level of ball control had come quickly to him. He was a natural.

"Hey, Mikaela! Watch this!" Nishinoya called, kicking the ball up well over his head. He held his hands out and received the ball in a sloppy overhand (partially because of his lack of skill with overhands and partially because of the weight of the ball) then let it drop back down to his feet. Occasionally, he'd knock it sideways and kick it back up with the side of his foot.

"That's great!" Mikaela said with a grin. "You picked that up fast!"

"He's ridiculous," Naniko agreed, watching Nishinoya continued to kick the ball up extremely high. He was actually starting to hit the ball so that the spin slowed down. "Have you played soccer before?"

Nishinoya nodded. "Yeah, when I was a kid. Haven't done it in years." He turned to Mikaela, letting the ball drop to the floor. "This was such a great refresher, thanks Mikaela!"

"Don't thank me, thank the captain," Mikaela said, glancing over her shoulder to see the captain jogging towards them.

The libero did just that. He bounced the ball up and started playing keep up again. "Thanks, soccer captain-san!"

Matsuo laughed. "Call me Matsuo. You're a natural, Nishinoya-kun. You sure you don't want to play soccer?"

"Nope!" Nishinoya said with a laugh, kicking the ball with the back of his heel.

"Thanks for your help, Matsuo-san," the manager said quickly, eager to leave. The captain waved her off, telling her she didn't need to use formalities, but Mikaela was already hobbling towards the exit. Nishinoya bounded around her, bouncing the soccer ball of the sides of his feet. "Noya, give it back," she scolded.

Nishinoya kicked the ball back to Naniko, who called out to the two of them. "Hey!"

Mikaela turned around. Nishinoya paused beside her. "Yeah?" she called back.

He nodded towards her, jerking his chin at her leg. "Can that actually come off?"

 _You've got to be shitting me-_

"Yep!" Nishinoya said enthusiastically, and Mikaela wanted to _melt._ "You know, the way we found out about it on the team was when she was in the store room and trying to fix it or something. It was off and Kageyama was trying to fix it, then I walked in and saw it!" Nishinoya's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he threw his arms in the air. "I screamed! It was insane!"

"Really?" Naniko asked, his face stretched in a grin.

Nishinoya nodded vigorously. "Yep! It was crazy!"

"Can you take it off now?" he asked eagerly.

Mikaela shook her head quickly. "No. No thanks."

Matsuo cocked his head, crossing his arms. "You sure? There's no harm in showing us, right? I mean, we helped you out and everything."

No, there was no harm in it, but it was as simple as _I don't want to._ The response died on Mikaela's tongue because he was right: they'd helped her out without expecting anything in return. It wasn't a huge deal...

Her hands were shaking. Mikaela's breathing was speeding up, and she tried to suck more air into her deflating lungs. _God, no, I can't be having a panic attack, not now-_

"Nope!"

Nishinoya's blatant yell almost jerked Mikaela out of her impeding anxiety attack. The soccer kids seemed confused. "What?" Naniko asked.

"She's _our_ manager," the libero said proudly, putting a hand on Mikaela's shoulder. "So _we're_ the only ones who can harass her!"

"Whoa, we weren't-"

"C'mon, Kaela!" Nishinoya said loudly, and Mikaela didn't need to be told twice; she lurched forwards, thankful that they weren't too far from the exit. Nishinoya held open the door, and Mikaela risked a glance back over her shoulder. The soccer team looked more confused than mad, so Mikaela didn't feel as bad for not apologizing. She turned around again and left the gym without looking back.

They trekked back to the gym, Mikaela's heart rate slowing down. "Thanks, Nishinoya," she said quietly, shooting him a grateful smile.

Nishinoya puffed out his chest. "I'm your senpai! I've got your back!"

She laughed. "Thank you."

They got back to the gym, where the team was going through spiking drills. The team saw them come in and called out various greetings. Nishinoya was about to jump straight into receiving when Mikaela grabbed his wrist. "Wait, wild child."

He turned. "What?"

"Do exactly what you did at the soccer thing with a volleyball," Mikaela urged, nodding towards the volleyball cart. "They're a different weight and material than the soccer balls so it'll be different."

Nishinoya's eyes lit up. "Okay! Sure!" He sped off to do exactly that.

Mikaela hobbled over to where Coach Ukai was talking strategy with Shimizu, who was nodding along and pointing to things on her own sheet. He noticed her coming over and nodded to Shimizu, who took off to go prepare another drill for the team. "So? You gonna tell me what you were up to now?" Ukai asked, reading over some points on his sheet.

"Got harassed by the soccer team."

Ukai looked up, puzzled. "Sorry?"

Mikaela pointed to Nishinoya, who had now attracted the attention of everyone in the gym by bouncing the volleyball off the tops of his feet without dropping it. "I emailed the soccer team captain yesterday and he agreed. I got one of their team members to teach him about dribbling and keep up, what parts of his foot are best to use, and that stuff."

"I..." the coach trailed off, watching Nishinoya pop the ball off the back of his heel. The ball curved in a wide arc over his head and the libero caught it on the top of his foot, bouncing it again. "I hadn't even thought of that," he said slowly, shaking his head. "You've really covered all the bases."

She smirked. "He's actually a bit too good at it," Mikaela admitted. "I was hoping he'd be bad so the ball would end up further, and he'd be stretching out with his feet to get it."

"That's true," Ukai agreed. "Can't have him getting too comfortable."

"Pull Kageyama out and get him to set off Nishinoya's foot saves so he doesn't get too attached to soccer."

Mikaela knew (judging by Nishinoya's reaction in the soccer gym) that there was no way the libero would ever give up volleyball for soccer, no matter how much natural talent he had. Ukai, however, stiffened slightly and jogged off to go grab Kageyama.

The manager took this as her cue to move onto her next target- Hinata. The short middle blocker had just nailed a spike set to him by Sugawara and bounding around to get back in line when Mikaela called out to him. "Shoyo!" she shouted, trying to be louder than the noise in the gym. "Get over here!"

Hinata pouted but scampered out of the spiking line. "What's up, Kaisha?"

"How's your serving?"

He shrugged, eyes floating to the ceiling. "Well, I can serve, and it goes over the net most of the time. I can't aim very well... I wanna try a jump serve but I can't get the hang of it." Hinata perked up. "Are you gonna teach me a jump serve?"

She shook her head. "Not enough time to do that. Nationals are in less than a month, and there's too much else to work on. Don't worry, this serve's pretty straight forward and there's not much technique to it."

"So what is it?" Hinata asked eagerly.

Mikaela grinned. "Let's go."

* * *

Practice was wrapping up, which naturally meant that everyone was getting ready to leave except for Kageyama and Hinata. Mikaela was helping back up when a loud car horn sounded from outside the gym. Everyone jumped in surprise.

"Who..." Mikaela trailed off. _Ah, I nearly forgot._

"Oi, that sounds like Saeko!" Tanaka yelled, bounding towards the door and swinging it open. "Yep, it's Saeko!"

"Is she driving you home, Ryu?" Nishinoya asked, jumping onto his best friend's back.

Mikaela laughed, grabbing her backpack and swinging it over her shoulder. "Sorry, guys," she said with a grin, grabbing her crutches and starting her trek to the door. "This one's for me."

The troublesome duo paused. "What?" they said in unison.

"I'm going for coffee with Saeko," Mikaela clarified.

"At six at night?" Tsukishima said with a snort. "Weird time to go for coffee."

"What's the occasion?" Yamaguchi asked.

Mikaela stopped in front of the door and shrugged. "Girl time."

With that said, Mikaela hobbled down the steps and towards the car waiting in the nearby parking lot. Saeko was standing outside the car, leaning on the door, with her car keys twirling around her finger. "Where we going, honey?" she called, grinning.

Mikaela's grin widened. She'd forgotten how infectious Saeko's enthusiasm was- much like her brother. "Anywhere," she said as she got closer to the car, shaking her head with a smile on her face. "As long as their coffee's good."

Saeko laughed. "I like the way you think!"

They piled into the car, and Mikaela slid into the backseat, tossing her crutches up on the seat next to her. The ride was a bit... wild, to put it lightly (Saeko wasn't exactly the safest driver) and Mikaela found out that she did, in fact, have a slight case of road rage. It was especially funny because she and Saeko both had the same road rage levels and spent a while yelling obscenities at other horrible drivers.

It was so... _refreshing._

 _God, I need to stop spending all my time around boys._

Saeko pulled up to a small coffee shop and ordered them both drinks ("it's on me, not a big deal, you pay next time") and they sat down in the far corner of the cafe. Mikaela liked the spot Saeko had picked out: it was small but not suffocating, well designed but not over the top, busy but not full.

"Here we are," Saeko said with a grin, sliding Mikaela's coffee across the table towards her. "Black, right?"

"Yep," Mikaela agreed, taking the lid off and blowing on it gently. "Thanks again, Saeko."

She waved her hand. "Anytime, honey! Now, down to business." Saeko laced her fingers and propped her elbows up on the table, settling her chin onto her intertwined fingers. "So? What's happening?"

Mikaela sighed, resisting the urge to sink into her seat. "It's Tsukishima."

"Duh."

"Okay, well, I don't know what to do."

Saeko sighed. "Honey, you're gonna have to be more specific than that. You wanted to talk about it, right?"

Mikaela nodded. "Well... I like him."

"Again, duh."

"Saeko! Ugh. Well, I think I, like, _really_ like him." Saeko rolled her eyes, and Mikaela took that as a sign to continue. "Like, when I went down with him to get his finger taped during the finals, he defended me in front of my former teammate, so I kissed him on the cheek to thank him-"

"Hold up!" Saeko formed a 'T' with her hands. "Time out! What happened now?"

Mikaela recounted the entire story with as much detail as she could remember, everything from accidentally holding his hand a lot longer than she should've to Kinomi and what she said to what Tsukishima said to defend her, and then the kiss before he went in. "And, I just- I just kissed him!" she babbled, throwing her hands out in exasperation. "I don't even know why! Oh, and then I stammered a lot, it was _so_ embarrassing."

The older woman laughed. "You've got more balls than I thought you did, hon!" She frowned. "Although, after that video, I guess you have more guts than I thought."

Mikaela groaned, letting her forehead rest against the table. _"Please_ don't mention that dumb video."

"Alright, alright. Besides, we're here to talk about your little crush, not that epic video, which was _fantastic,_ by the way." Saeko took a sip of her coffee. "So? Does he like you back?"

"I..." Mikaela bit her lip. "I don't know."

"Well, he defended you," Saeko pointed out. "If it's like what you said, then he obviously sees you as a close friend, at least. From what I hear, that's a big deal with Tsukishima."

She nodded along. "Yeah. I mean, we went on a date, but I don't think-"

"You _what?!"_

"-I don't know if he considered it a date or not?"

Saeko slammed her cup down on the table, causing a few drops of coffee to spill onto the table. "Girl, you need to start giving me details. Were you two alone?" she asked.

"Well, no, it was a museum-"

"No, like, was it just you two?"

"Yes?"

"Did he pay for it?"

"I did, actually."

She whistled. "Damn! We know who wears the pants in this relationship!"

Mikaela flushed. "Well, I asked him, so it was only fair."

"So what'd you do?"

The manager leaned back in her seat and tried her best to recount the details of the date. When she mentioned that he kissed her on the cheek, Saeko squealed but didn't say anything. She added the part about the dinosaur key chain ("Is it the one on your backpack right now?" "Yes, it is." "And he bought it for you? You have matching key chains?") and Saeko was livid.

"You seriously think this boy doesn't like you?" the blonde woman said loudly, crossing his arms. "Girl, he kissed you, and he bought you a gift."

Mikaela sunk into her seat. "I don't want to get my hopes up, though."

She sighed, smacking herself in the forehead. "Ah, to be young. Girl, I can tell you with almost one hundred percent confidence that he likes you."

"You think so?" she said softly, smiling in spite of herself. Mikaela took another sip of her coffee. "But... what if he doesn't?"

Saeko clapped her hands together and pointed them at her. "Girl, I _know_ he does. Has he hugged you or anything?"

Mikaela shrugged. "We fell asleep while we were cuddling-"

"You were _cuddling?!"_

"Saeko, keep your voice down!"

"Christ, you may as well get married now!"

Her cheeks got hot, and Mikaela brought the coffee to her lips, flustered. "Saeko, it's really not a big deal," she said after she took another sip. "I'm just worried because he might be pitying me. What if I try to make a move and he gets mad? Or I'm too forward? I don't want to ruin this."

"Hon, if he likes you as much as you're describing, then he _definitely_ will go along with whatever you do."

"But what if he _doesn't?"_

Saeko sighed, pressing her fingers to the sides of her forehead. "Kaisha, listen for a second. I went to school with Akiteru- I know him pretty well- and by default, I know bits and pieces about his younger brother. The poor kid had one friend growing up, and even then he was never open with him."

"Yamaguchi," Mikaela realized.

She nodded. "Yep. Their friendship was always a bit tense, and honestly, I was surprised by how attached Yamaguchi was to him. But Kei opened up, and he became friends with the poor kid, and now he's the only one he tolerates." Saeko huffed, making finger guns and directing them at Mikaela. "That is, until he met you."

"Saeko..."

"Girl, he's let his guard down with you. That's a huge sign of friendship, especially for someone as guarded as poor Kei." Saeko grabbed her coffee, gulping down the rest of it and setting the cup down on the table. "The fact that you two have cuddled, and he kissed you-"

"Just on the cheek-"

"I don't care, a kiss is a kiss. He went out of his way to do that. You never forced him. And that's huge." Saeko grinned. "Kaisha, he really likes you."

Mikaela felt her cheeks go red, and she shrugged sheepishly, trying to fight the silly grin on her face. "You really think so?" she asked softly.

"Hon, I _know_ so."

"Well..." she trailed off, taking another sip of her coffee. "Regardless, I still don't want to ruin our friendship. He means a lot to me."

Saeko shrugged. "That's always a risk with these things. But in these cases, the benefits outweigh everything else you're thinking of." She grinned. "Even just sitting here now, listening to you talk about him, I can tell you really like him. I can only imagine how happy you'll be when you get together."

"If," Mikaela corrected, downing the rest of her coffee.

"When. I guarantee it."

She sighed, setting her empty coffee cup to rest on the table. "Thanks, Saeko. I needed this a bit more than I realized."

The older Tanaka's grin widened. "Anytime, lovely. You spend a bit too much time around the boys."

Mikaela laughed. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

"Hit me up anytime you want to chat!"

"Thank you, Saeko. I will."

Saeko drove her to Kageyama's house, and they spent the rest of the trip chattering about volleyball. Mikaela told Saeko about how much her little brother's serves had improved, and Saeko bragged about how he'd started practicing at home too. They talked about nationals, and Saeko mentioned bringing along her drumming club for support. Mikaela jumped at that, insisting it was a fantastic idea because audience support at national games was _huge._ Eventually, they made it to Kageyama's place (hitting only two curbs on the way) and Mikaela thanked Saeko again for everything.

She completely forgot that the video existed for a few hours. That was probably the best gift she'd received all day.

* * *

 **I too have been in Saeko's shoes, in which I've tried for hours on end to convince a friend that their crush (quite obviously) liked them back, yet they remain in denial. It's _so_ frustrating. I feel for you, Saeko. I really do.**

 **Happy December! I apologize for my long absence by bringing you my longest chapter yet! Thank you for your patience :)**

 **hannymae:** Bruh, seeing Oikawa in the latest chapters has helped heal me from the brutality of nationals... We must be one and the same, because I too reread her adventures and cry like a proud parent because wtf why is she so strong I'm so proud- anyways! Thank you kindly for your review, much appreciated :)

 **Skyfern:** Nope ;) Thanks for your review! :D

 **Mads-Chikistorm:** Aha I know exactly what you mean! When I read Haikyuu for the first time, I hated him at first- what an asshole, am I right? His character development hit me straight in the gut and floored me, and I totally fell for him after that. I love writing this story because I love exploiting his very rarely found 'kindness' as you could call it. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kitty:** Most likely he won't be- Miya's only there for comedic purposes ;) Ayano didn't take a picture, but a certain brother returning home from work late may have... *cough* Thank you for your review! :D

 **Padgent:** I knew you'd catch on ;) I'd like to say that I'm not telling you what school she chose just for suspenseful purposes, but part of me is still torn and I haven't quite decided. Every time I think I have, someone brings up a great point and UGH. Thank you kindly for your review! :)

 **SupMyDudez:** I agree! I was conflicted about the manga's direction at first but maybe a skip ahead to the future is just what I need- it gives me some freedom to fill in the gaps as I like ;) Thank you for your review! :D

 **Guest:** I'm totally down for a Tsukishima-meets-Miya scene, where Miya realizes how attached they are to each other and makes it his personal goal to tease the fuck out of them. We'll see ;) Yeah, I considered changing the genre, but hurt/comfort and friendship WERE supposed to be my main points- I never planned on shipping her with anyone in this story at first. I like the way it's going, though. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Aominewolf:** Here you go! Thank you so much :)

 **Zorua1:** You're right, the throat IS much easier on the knuckles- but it doesn't have the same sense of satisfaction as a face shot, you know?! Thanks for your review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** Don't you just love the smart kids who are also the dumbest at the same time? XD Ayano didn't take a picture, but a certain sneaky brother may have... ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **ChaosHearth:** I genuinely thought you'd started reading the manga just for this story at first and my thought was "oh shit, another one" because I know there's a few people doing that and it wasn't my intention XD Thank you so much! You made me laugh and I'm glad you're enjoying the story :D

 **Tribble. Chan:** You made me laugh XD I'm so glad you're just as (if not more so) invested in this as I am! I'm holding out on revealing the school until I'm 100% sure it's the right choice, because I'm still flipping back and forth... shh ;) Thank you for your review! :)

 **Chipmunk:** Social media is ridiculous, right?! Thank you for your review! :D

 **reddyeru:** That makes me so happy! You made me grin like an idiot, thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story and my writing style T^T Thank you thank you thank you! :D

 **Swaggishima:** Aw, you're a sweetheart- thank you so much! Thank you for your review! :)

 **OTrizy:** Not at all! I'm glad someone feels that way. I've tried to make what her mother does seem... understandable? Not how she does it- that's hella extreme- but the reasons she does it for. She's got her daughter's best interests at heart, and she's just going about it the wrong way. Redemption is always an option! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Danikm97:** You're so kind! Thank you so much for your nice words! I know that feeling you get when you're deeply invested in a fanfiction so I'm so happy this is the one for you. I used to update once a week, actually! But since going onto post-secondary I've been barely keeping up with once a month. I'll be done my exams in three weeks, so hopefully that means more updates! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **S. yons:** Don't you just love teenage hormones? Thank you so much for your nice comments! This ship's sailing- slowly, but we're getting there ;) Thank you so much for your reviews! :)

 **Idkwhatimdoing:** Binge-reading is the best- thank you so much! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you! :)

 **Myherogal22:** Thank you so much! :D

 **Y'all see this?! You're much too kind to me. I'm gonna cry.**

 **Actually, I think this chapter got out because my finals are coming up and I'm supposed to study- naturally I am avoiding this at all costs and I chose to write instead. Hm.**


	45. The Second Chance

**Thank you endlessly to Padgent, hannymae, Sayori1412, SupMyDudez, Swaggishima, Kitty, xOphiuchusx, Guest, jilyshiper, Coolfire30, KrypticKoala, PheonixBird06, bbymojo, Tribble. Chan, animefreak112097, Just nobody, bellamario, Lucky luck04, kaaeiful, AquaBluey, Piyot, SoilderKid, Superman4EVR, bethatmadcat, jullie38, CupcakesND, GreenEyedTrickster, Luzifer Blood Angel, , atiyah382, AlienSpaceAce, BakuganShari, smac3993, Raise a glass to freedom, and TacoTRAIN720 for your support!**

* * *

Time flew.

Before Mikaela even knew what was happening, winter came at them in full swing and then it was winter break. Practices still went on as usual, but a bit less frequent due to the weather. Mikaela was glad to have an excuse to wear her leggings- it was _cold_ outside. Sure, she went the rest of the week without them, but then it became much too cold. Mikaela bundled up the best she could.

She got off her crutches. Walking was a bit weird, at first. Mikaela found herself constantly grasping for her crutches that weren't there, which made it a bit odd to walk because she was always reaching out for something that she didn't have. Two days after being cleared of her crutches, Mikaela was as good as new. She felt... _normal._

It was so bizarre what four months of cramps with a prosthetic, a month with a wheelchair, and a month with crutches could do to someone. Mikaela had never felt so liberated. She spent her first day off crutches skipping, running, and doing anything she could to express her excitement at being able to use her legs.

The team still practiced regularly, which Mikaela appreciated. She didn't enjoy spending all of her time at Tsukishima or Kageyama's; although she knew neither of them minded, she still felt like she wasn't supposed to be there. Like a leech. It was okay during the school weeks, but now that school was out for a bit, she was spending all of her time at Kageyama's. Or Tsukishima's, depending on the day.

Mikaela was seriously considering going back home.

She hadn't seen her mother since the surgery- almost two months ago. Surely that was enough time for things to blow over, right? She'd be safe at home now, right? She had no reason to fear her mother now. What was there to argue about? She'd be fine.

 _...Right?_

"Kags," Mikaela said one day, laying on the couch as Kageyama flipped to the next episode of the show they were watching. "I should go back home."

He didn't reply, instead fast-forwarding through the theme song of the show. Thirty seconds of the show went through before he paused it and turned to her. "You're serious?" Kageyama asked.

Mikaela swallowed. "Yeah. I mean, I've been mooching off of you for months now."

"You know I've got no problem with it. Neither does Tsukishima."

"You say that all the time. I know." She huffed, twisting herself so that she was sitting up on the couch. "I think... I think I should at least give it a shot."

Kageyama sighed, setting down the remote. "Kaisha, she _hit_ you. You can't just let that go."

"You think I have?" Mikaela frowned. She had known he'd disapprove from the beginning, but it wasn't something she could do without consulting him. "Look, if it's ever dangerous, I'll leave. I know I can be safe with you."

"So just stay safe with me," he insisted.

"She's my family, Tobio."

"So am I."

She stifled a groan, leaning back into the couch. "Kags, I have to give it a shot. It's been four months, at least. And she's tried. She got the surgery arranged, she offered to get me Dad's old apartment... It's her way of trying to make up for it."

Kageyama didn't say anything for a moment, but when he started to talk, Mikaela could tell he'd picked his words out carefully. "The day you officially ran away, I got a phone call from Tsukishima, of all people," he said in a low voice, meeting her eyes, "telling me that you were bleeding, shaken up, and not speaking to anyone." He turned away, glaring at the paused television screen. "I can't. Kaisha, I can't get a call like that again."

"I..." Mikaela trailed off, shaking her head. "It won't happen again."

"You can't promise me that."

Mikaela couldn't think of anything to say in response. She pinched her lips into a line and broke eye contact with Kageyama, choosing to glare at her feet instead. He was right, and she knew it; there was no way to completely ensure that a situation like what she'd faced in August would happen again.

She straightened up. "Do you trust me?"

He scowled. "You can't ask me something like that."

"Do you trust me?" she repeated.

"You know I do."

"Then trust me when I say this is the last time. If it happens again, I'll move out for good." Mikaela grabbed Kageyama's hand and squeezed it lightly. "I can't promise you that it won't happen again, but I can promise you that I'll never go back if it does."

He stayed silent for a minute, glaring at the television screen. Mikaela didn't let go of his hand, afraid that if she did, he'd leave.

"Okay."

She perked up. "Really?"

Kageyama rolled his eyes. "You don't need my permission, moron."

"Yeah, but I wanted you to be okay with it." Mikaela squeezed his hand once more and then she let go, smiling softly. "Thanks, Kags. I'm sure it'll be fine."

"But if anything goes sideways-"

"-I call you."

"Right away."

"Yeah."

"You promise?"

That was a promise she could definitely keep. "I promise."

"Okay." Kageyama exhaled, grabbing the remote from the table. He pressed play, and the show started up again. "When'd you want to go?"

Mikaela shrugged. "Today."

"Today?" He paused it again, and Mikaela groaned, rolling her eyes. "Like, right now?"

"No, dork, I want to at least get through this episode first. Then maybe I can make cookies for her or something." She cocked her head, turning to the Kageyama. "Wanna make cookies with me?"

He sighed. "Fine."

"You're the best, Tobio."

"Yeah, yeah."

* * *

Three hours later, Mikaela was armed with a container full of gingerbread cookies (they had taken her and Kageyama the better part of an hour to make) and her resolve was set. This was it. She was standing on the doorstep outside her house, biting her lip and glaring at the door.

She rung the doorbell.

Time passed, and nobody came to the door, even though her mother's car was in the driveway. Mikaela turned around to look at Kageyama, who was waiting at the bottom of the driveway. He shrugged, and Mikaela sighed, ready to leave.

"Who is..."

The door opened and Mikaela spun around to face her mother, still wearing her work clothes and rubbing her eyes tiredly. When she noticed who it was, she trailed off, surprise evident on her face.

"Hi!" Mikaela squeaked, caught off guard. "I- uh, sorry, I- I made cookies?" she offered weakly, holding up the silver tin.

Her mother stared at her blankly, her dark eyes drifting from Mikaela's face to the tin, then back to her daughter, as if she couldn't believe Mikaela was actually standing in front of her. Mikaela didn't know how to proceed; she'd made a gamble, coming home like this, although her mother didn't look threatening right now and her aggression levels seemed rather low, so she didn't feel like she was in danger. If anything, her mother looked like she might just close the door- or maybe tap Mikaela to make sure she was real.

"I'm sorry."

Mikaela blinked, unsure that she'd heard her correctly. "What?" she said blandly.

Monomi pinched her lips together and met Mikaela's gaze, and the manager was absolutely floored to see tears in her mother's eyes. "I'm sorry," she repeated, her hands falling limply to her sides, "for being a shitty excuse of a mother to you."

The silence that passed between them seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Suddenly, the cookie tin fell to the ground with a clatter. Mikaela leaned forward, and for the first time in ages, wrapped her mother in a hug. Her arms fastened around her mother's shoulders and she hung on like she was hanging on for dear life- when was the last time she'd hugged her mother? When was the last time her mother had been hugged?

Monomi's arms wrapped around her waist, and Mikaela squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to suppress the tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry too," Mikaela mumbled, tears leaking down her cheeks. "For running away. For never talking to you. I-"

"I don't blame you," her mother replied, and something in Mikaela collapsed. She started sobbing, her fingers clawing at her mother's back in a desperate attempt to get closer to her mother, the woman who had brought her into this world, the woman who raised her and wanted the best for her, even if she went about it in the wrong ways. Her heart had been in the right place.

Mikaela's chest hurt from crying. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand, sniffling loudly. "Are- are the cookies okay?" she asked weakly, and her mother chuckled.

"Probably." They let go, standing back from each other. Mikaela bent down and picked up the tin with shaky hands. Monomi stepped back, giving Mikaela space to enter the house. "Let's sit down," she said, and Mikaela saw the commanding presence return to her form. Mikaela was about to shrink down and muster up some sort of excuse when her mother seemed to notice her discomfort and added, "you can tell me what you've been up to lately."

"Really?" Mikaela said softly, still doubtful. "You'll just listen?"

She nodded. "Unless you ever want me to talk."

 _Who are you and what have you done with my mother?_ Mikaela turned around to look back at Kageyama, who had an awkward smile on his face. She smiled at him, and he nodded. She was okay. Mikaela turned back around to face her mother.

"Okay," she whispered, nodding slowly. "Okay."

 _I guess holiday miracles really do happen._

* * *

Kageyama Monomi stayed true to her word. She stayed almost dead silent the entire time that Mikaela talked about what she'd been up to for the past four months- had it really been four months? She talked about the finals, and she tried to keep it brief in fear that her mother would shut her down, but Monomi actually asked, "how was the game?" and Mikaela couldn't stop herself from diving into the details of the match.

She talked about the training camp and the video that had overtaken the internet. Monomi had seen it, of course, but Mikaela told the whole story behind it anyways. She talked about preparing for nationals, the team, class, Kageyama, and anything else that came to mind, and her mother didn't comment on any of it until Mikaela went silent for a minute with nothing else left to say.

"Where have you been living?" Monomi finally asked.

Mikaela felt the conversation grow tense. "Mostly Tobio's place," she said honestly, "because his parents are never home. I didn't..." she trailed off.

"You didn't want them informing me," her mother finished, and Mikaela pursed her lips. "That's where I expected you to go. I will admit, I was a bit too... _prideful_ to call my sister and ask."

"Yeah," Mikaela echoed softly. "I stayed with... uh, other people on the team on the days where his parents were home." Monomi nodded, and they fell into an awkward silence. Mikaela curled up into the armchair and stayed silent, worried that her mother's sudden change in attitude would only last so long. Then, a thought occurred to her. "Um, what have you been up to? In the past few months?" Mikaela asked awkwardly.

She saw her mother stiffen up. The corners of her lips twitched. Apparently her question meant more to her mother than she'd thought it would. "Business is good," Monomi said firmly. "I wrapped up two cases in the past few months, and the company-"

She stopped. Mikaela raised an eyebrow, surprised. This type of talking was typical of her mother, so the pause wasn't expected.

"...I've been seeing a therapist."

Mikaela's jaw must've hit the floor. "Wait, _what?"_

Monomi, for the first time in ages, looked... vulnerable. She sank back into her chair with a sigh. "Since you left," she said quietly, and Mikaela clung onto every word, "I've started to realize how lonely I was. It was depressing, but it was tolerable. But then your father's funeral happened." Her face softened. "Your speech reminded me how different your father and I were. We both wanted what was best for you, but he was willing to let fate take its course and let your future play out. I wanted no such thing. I was determined to do whatever I could to put you on the right path."

"Were?" Mikaela said quietly, and Monomi chuckled.

"Still am. It's critical that for the highest probability of success, you keep your doors open. I knew immediately that volleyball wasn't the right direction to go- really, unless you make it big, being an 'athlete' is not a viable job- and I wanted to push you in the same direction I went, because I saw the same drive, the same attitude. You'd be a wonderful lawyer."

There were so many things Mikaela wanted to say, but she refrained from commenting.

Monomi sighed again. "I discussed my views with a therapist, who suggested that perhaps those qualities could be applied elsewhere. Maybe, instead of trying to drive you towards a certain career because you possessed the right characteristics, that I could try to nurture those characteristics to be stronger instead." She shrugged. "It was good logic. I enhance your skills so that when- if- you decided to follow my path, you'd be strong enough to handle it.

"It was only after several meetings that I realized what he meant. That instead of driving you towards law, I could push you to improve, and then you'd have the skills to succeed anywhere." Monomi pursed her lips. "Although I still think you have great potential for law and law school would be the best place for you, I've come to realize that even if I forced you there, you'd figure out a way to do what you really wanted to anyways. So why would I go through the trouble?"

Mikaela's mouth felt dry. What the hell had happened to her mother?

"So, my question for you," Monomi said slowly, clenching her hands into fists and then releasing, "is what you want to do."

"What I want to do," Mikaela repeatedly, and her mother nodded. "What I want to do about what?"

"Anything. Everything." She leaned forward in her seat, lacing her fingers together. "It's taken several visits and reiterations of his message to understand what my therapist truly meant. If I am to be your mother, I am to support you and what you want to do, regardless of whether it's what _I_ want you to do." Monomi huffed. "Obviously, it's still a work in progress, and I'll probably disagree with most of what you say, but my opinion is irrelevant."

 _I really have to meet the man that got this through her thick skull._ Mikaela's mouth opened and closed with no words coming out- she was speechless. Her lips turned upwards in a grin. "Wow," she said dumbly, shaking her head. "I can't believe this."

"Me neither," Monomi replied, and they both chuckled. "So? What would you like to do?"

Mikaela beamed. "I want to play volleyball."

"No surprises there. Where?"

"Karasuno."

"You're sure?"

Mikaela exhaled slowly and nodded. "Yes."

"Explain your reasoning."

She couldn't help her grin- no matter what, she was still her mother. "I spoke with Japan's coach for the under nineteen female team," Mikaela said, her conversation with Hujita flitting back into memory. "We talked a lot about my options. Apparently, she was scouting me in Junior High but then I vanished. She's interested to see if I've gotten better and she was looking at me for the U-19 team. The prosthetic makes it a bit of an issue- she's got to get it cleared with the athletic board if I'm to play in tournaments."

Mikaela bit her lip, but continued. "It was going to be tricky enough to convince the committee to let me play, but then that video went viral, which apparently means I'm a popular Internet star now." If her mother was surprised, she gave no indication of it, so Mikaela forged on. "Volleyball isn't one of the most watched sports in Japan, so they'll do what they need to in order to secure more viewers. Having an Internet sensation playing on the team is apparently beneficial and will draw more viewers.

"Hujita already said I'll probably get flagged down at nationals, especially since people know who I am now. I'm hoping for that. I can announce that I'm going to play for Karasuno. Even if I don't get any attention, that's fine too. I just want to be able to play volleyball, and as long as my skills are up to par, I've got a good shot for the U-19 team."

"That's impressive," Monomi said, and Mikaela nearly melted. That was the most positive encouragement she'd ever received from her mother about volleyball- _ever._ "However, I do have to ask- why Karasuno?"

"Why Karasuno?" Mikaela repeated.

 _I've asked myself the same thing hundreds of times over the past few weeks._

She smiled. "Why would I ruin what I've put so much into building up for myself?"

* * *

They talked. For at least another hour.

Monomi inquired about school; just because Mikaela was now free to pursue volleyball without the discouragement of her mother didn't mean she could "throw away her education". It was a fair enough argument, so Mikaela promised to keep her grades up and keep university in mind. They talked about the logistics of playing again and what the athletic committee would have a problem with.

"They'll need to inspect the prosthetic," Monomi said with a sigh, "to be clear that it doesn't give you an advantage when you play."

"I'll wear whatever they give me to wear if I have to," Mikaela assured her.

They talked about the living situation. Monomi initially suggested finding her an apartment or something similar nearby, but it'd be a bit of a walk from Karasuno- not a lot of decent options in the surrounding area- but Mikaela decided to cut her off. "I could just live here," she suggested weakly, lacing her fingers together.

Her mother paused. "You'd consider that?"

Mikaela thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Then I have a suggestion to make." Monomi straightened up. "What if we reconfigured the basement to be your own personal living space? It was a plan your father and I had in place for a while- honestly, we never use the basement anymore- and you're a bit too big for your old room now."

Mikaela's jaw slipped. "You'd do that?"

"Of course. Besides, that would... provide a bit of space between us, if you desired." Monomi tightened her jaw.

"Yeah- Yeah, that'd be great." Mikaela's head was spinning; there was so much generosity and kindness practically _oozing_ from her mother and it felt too good to be true. The basement was pretty big, too- there was enough space for her to have a bedroom and then separate living quarters. It was a great compromise. "This is for real? You're not pulling my leg?"

"No. Now I'm going to be gone..." Monomi trailed off, then picked up again, filling Mikaela in on what weekends she'd be away for and when she could have people come over to redo the basement or bring in what she wanted. "Consider it your holiday present," she said when Mikaela asked about what she could get for her new room. "You know money isn't an issue. I just want a record of what you've ordered, so be aware that I _will_ be asking you about any questionable purchases."

"Fair enough." Mikaela sighed, crossing her ankles. "Wow. This is a bit..."

Monomi quirked an eyebrow. "Generous? Surreal? Bizarre?"

"Not what I expected," she admitted. "This is like, the best case scenario of what I had in mind."

"Well, Kaisha," her mother said with a chuckle, "I think you've had enough of the 'worst case scenario' business to last for the rest of your life."

Mikaela smiled. "Yeah, I guess so."

* * *

She stayed one last night at Kageyama's place, with plans to shop the next day and then move back home. Kageyama made sure she enjoyed her 'last' evening at his house; they went on a run together, watched dumb movies, and hit a volleyball back and forth to each other in the backyard. Before she knew it, tomorrow had arrived and she was supposed to shop.

Mikaela wasn't a huge fan of shopping mindlessly. Shopping with a mission? That was a different story.

So, naturally, she contacted the best shopper she knew.

"So, where to first?" Oikawa chirped excitedly, flipping through a map of one of Tokyo's many shopping centers. The setter had immediately agreed to a shopping trip ("More bonding with Mika-chan!") and they'd taken a train to get into Tokyo, where all the best stores were. Oikawa knew more about shopping and bargains than anyone else she knew, so Mikaela was willing to spend a day with him if it meant getting some good deals on stuff for her room. It was her mother's money, sure, but she didn't want to waste it mindlessly.

"Wherever works," Mikaela replied with a shrug.

Oikawa grinned. "Alright, if you insist!"

"We're not shopping for clothes, Oikawa."

He immediately pouted. "But Mika-chan!" he whined as they wandered through the entrance to a department store. "Clothes shopping is the best kind of shopping!"

"I don't need clothes, moron."

"But I do!"

"You _always_ need clothes, though. I invited you to help me get stuff for my room."

"Your basement, you mean," Oikawa clarified, leaning onto a large cupboard that was up on display. He accidentally knocked off the 'For Sale' sign on top of the cupboard and scrambled to catch it before it toppled off. Righting it, he stepped away from the display, grinning sheepishly. "So! What could you possibly want for your lovely basement?"

"I'm thinking a fridge, for sure," Mikaela said, opening up the list she'd recorded on her phone. "Mom's got a television I can steal, and there's already a couch in the basement but I'd love another chair. Oh, and a bean bag chair, definitely."

Oikawa stuck his tongue out at her. "She literally gave you access to whatever you want, Mika-chan! You've got to get more extravagant than that!"

Mikaela raised her eyebrow. "Like what?"

"An aquarium! Or a lava lamp! Or something fancy!"

"...A lava lamp?"

"Girl, your room is going to be on the top ten best basements in Japan if I have anything to do about it," Oikawa said proudly, clapping Mikaela on the shoulder. "And I do. Let's go get you some giant plants." He grabbed her by the wrist and started dragging her towards the first aisle.

Mikaela rolled her eyes and let herself be dragged along. _I'm going to regret this._

To her surprise, bringing Oikawa with her turned out to be a huge success. They snagged a decently priced fridge (Oikawa picked out a pack of magnets so it wouldn't be 'empty') and Mikaela picked out a coffee table. Together, they picked out an armchair that matched the couch she already had and a beanbag chair, which Mikaela was tempted to take a nap on.

Eventually, Oikawa convinced her to spend a bit more and Mikaela couldn't resist. She ended up getting a lava lamp- in all fairness, it was red and yellow and the coolest thing she'd seen all day- and they even bought a popcorn machine. Mikaela had laughed when he suggested it, but then Oikawa dove into all the benefits of eating popcorn (a nice snack food that wasn't horribly unhealthy for you) and she'd finally relented.

They bought fairy lights; they were cheap and easy to decorate her room with. Oikawa convinced her to get a picture-hanging thing to put on her wall, then promised to help her print out pictures to put up.

"Here, Mika-chan, let's take a picture!" Oikawa chirped. "For your picture board!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I've got a picture with you somewhere, don't I?"

Oikawa made a face. "No you don't!"

"Oh, wait! I have that one of you shrieking-"

 _"That doesn't count!"_

Mikaela laughed. "That's my favourite picture."

"Well, Mika-chan, you have horrible taste."

"I mean, I hang out with you, don't I?"

"I didn't raise you to be rude!"

"You-" Mikaela was laughing so hard that her chest hurt. She'd forgotten how much she loved hanging out with Oikawa; he was nothing short of hilarious and fun to be around. "Oikawa, you're the best," she said with a grin, shaking her head. "I've missed you."

He beamed. "I missed you too, Mika-chan. We should hang out more often."

"Your fangirls would literally murder me. Why do you think I insisted we shop in Tokyo?"

"Oh, Mika-chan," Oikawa said with a shake of his head. "They wouldn't bother you!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I've seen what you post online and how many comments your photos get. You're basically an idol."

"You wanna go and talk about social media?" The captain laughed, shaking his head. "That video was gold, and now you've got more followers than I do."

"I do?" she said in surprise. Honestly, she'd stopped keeping track. When she'd gotten back from camp, Tsukishima had mentioned her having over three thousand. She hadn't thought it'd go up from there. Mikaela frowned, pulling out her phone. Her eyes bugged out of her head. "Six thousand?! For throwing my leg at someone?"

Oikawa huffed. "I had to work hard to get this as many as I have. You're lucky."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "How many do you have?"

"Three thousand and something."

"That's a lot," she assured him. "I only had a few hundred before this whole mess."

"Hey, Mika-chan," Oikawa said suddenly, his lips twisting into a wicked grin. "Can I post a video of you throwing your prosthetic at me? I'll-"

"No way, dumbass."

He pouted. "Can I settle for a photo then?"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Fine."

"Yay!" Oikawa pulled out his phone and turned on the camera, holding it out in selfie mode. He held up his fingers in a peace sign. "Say cheese!" She couldn't help but grin as he snapped the picture. "You're so photogenic, Mika-chan," Oikawa whined. "I'm jealous."

"Ex _cuse_ me? Have you seen yourself?"

They bickered the rest of the way out of the store, shopping bags hanging over their arms (they'd ordered the larger things to be delivered the next day) and headed down to the train station. Sure, Oikawa could be annoying, but Mikaela was grateful for him; he put up with a lot of her shit too, so she couldn't complain too much.

It was a decently long train ride, and they could only spend so long bothering each other, so Mikaela and Oikawa switched to talking about volleyball. Mikaela tried to avoid talking about nationals in general- it was still a bit of a sore spot for Oikawa- so instead they talked about the camp. Mikaela grumbled about Miya Atsumu, and Oikawa rolled his eyes at her antics and added some of his own jabs.

They were almost back at the main station and Mikaela thanked Oikawa again for coming with her, but he waved her off. "You know I like shopping almost as much as I like myself," Oikawa said cheerily, checking his phone briefly. "Anytime, Mika-chan."

"Thanks, Oikawa," Mikaela said gratefully, "I owe you one."

He coughed at that and turned his head to look out the window. "About that."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What is it?"

"Can I cash that favour now?"

"Sure?"

"Could you come to our practice for a few minutes?"

"I thought you were done practicing."

"We are, but we just hang out and fool around for a bit. No coaches or whatnot."

Mikaela frowned. "We've got practice tonight too."

"Yeah, but you said it doesn't start until half an hour after ours, so it should be fine."

"Alright, but... why?"

Oikawa sighed, resting his elbows on his knees. "Okay, so I told the team I knew the leg throwing girl," he started.

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "That's what this is? You want me to go with you and prove that you know me? Because they didn't believe you?" Oikawa opened his mouth to protest, but Mikaela was so flabbergasted that she ignored his attempt to stop her and forged on. "Is that what that photo was for? Because you wanted proof that you know me?"

"Mikaela!" Oikawa exclaimed, throwing his hands out and making an 'X' to get her to stop. "How shallow do you think I am?" Her hesitation was enough to make him sigh. "Okay, maybe a bit, but _no."_

"Sorry," she muttered, sinking into her seat. "I guess that's a bit of an overreaction."

"A bit?" he said incredulously, and Mikaela glared at him. "Okay, fine, I guess I started wrong. For one thing, Iwa-chan, Makki, and Mattsun want to see you."

"Fair enough," she admitted grudgingly.

"What I was _going_ to say," Oikawa said, frowning at her, "was that there's a couple guys on the team who want to meet you. Apparently one of them knows that Miya kid and personally wants to thank you for your service to this country."

Mikaela snorted. "It wasn't even that great."

"Okay, but will you come?"

"Fine. No harm in it, I guess." Oikawa pumped a fist and thanked her, grinning. "So this has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm now Internet famous?"

Judging by the way Oikawa's mouth opened and closed with no explanation, it definitely did.

Which was okay. It didn't bother her, really.

(Maybe just a bit.)

* * *

Mikaela enjoyed the experience a whole lot more than she thought she would.

She ran through Hujita's tips in her head: if she came off as a stone cold bitch, nobody would like her. If she came off as too friendly, people would think she's out of character or just eager to please. She had to find a balance. She had to stay aloof. She had to-

Mikaela groaned and shut her phone off, the list of tips she'd recorded going dark. _Fuck it. I'll be myself, and if they don't like me, they won't like me._

Social media could go to hell.

"If you're ever uncomfortable," Oikawa rushed out on their way there, almost tripping over his own feet, "let me or Iwa-chan know and we'll get you out of there."

She rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine. But thank you, Oikawa."

"No, thank _you,_ Mika-chan," he chirped back, grinning. "Fame is rough, huh?"

"It has its downsides," she joked with another roll of her eyes. _I'm hardly famous._

The walk from the station wasn't too bad, but by the time they got there, Mikaela's nonchalance about this whole ordeal had faded. She trusted Oikawa, sure, but Mikaela was afraid she'd need to be protected from not only Oikawa's fangirls but any 'fans' (if you could call them that) of her as well. The people at Karasuno were bad enough; how bad could they possibly be at Aoba Johsai?

Oikawa opened the gym door. "Your captain's here!" he called out excitedly, announcing his presence for all to hear. Mikaela smacked herself in the forehead. "And I brought a guest!"

Mikaela stepped out from behind Oikawa and immediately made eye contact with Iwaizumi. Her lips stretched into a grin, and he grinned right back at her. Mikaela dropped her shopping bags by the door and ran towards him (God, she _loved_ being able to use both of her legs freely) and launched herself at him, grabbing him in a hug. "I missed you," she mumbled into his shoulder, fighting back a smile.

"Missed you too," Iwaizumi replied, letting go of her and backing up, patting his hands on her shoulders. "Crutch free?"

"Yep!" she chirped happily. "I-"

"Oi! Mika!"

She whipped around and her smile widened. "Hanamaki! Matsukawa!"

"I told you to call me Makki, dumbass," Hanamaki scolded, wandering over to her and ruffling her hair. Mikaela scowled and swatted his hand away. "You've been avoiding us, eh?"

"I have not," she protested. "I've been busy."

"Obviously," Matsukawa said with a scoff. "Too busy for your poor old uncles."

"You are _two years_ older than me, that hardly qualifies as old."

"Yeah, respect your elders, brat."

"Why, you-"

"Mika-chan!" Mikaela turned around to Oikawa's familiar whine, sighing to herself. "You weren't this happy to see me!"

She cocked her head, pretending to be confused. "Why? Should I be?"

"Mean!"

"I'm kidding!"

"C'mon, Mikaela, don't try and spare his feelings like that."

"Yeah, you don't have to lie to him."

"Oi! I'm your captain!"

"Assikawa, shut up and go get changed."

Mikaela wanted to cry. _I've missed this so much._ "Oi, Oikawa, was this it? Am I good now?" she called out as the brunet was retreating to the change room.

"Hardly!" he called back before closing the door behind him.

"Hardly?" Mikaela echoed. Frowning, she turned back to Iwaizumi, Hanamaki, and Matsukawa, and it was only then that she noticed the other players in the gym. About eight other boys were standing, frozen in place, staring at her like she was some sort of god. "Hi," she said awkwardly, tucking her hands behind her back. "Sorry for barging in."

She was greeted by silence until one of the boys- their back up setter? Yahaba or something?- spoke up. "You're the Karasuno manager," he said slowly.

Mikaela nodded. "Yep."

There was a hiss of, "I _told_ you!" as someone very familiar smacked someone else who was very familiar in the back of the head.

"Kindaichi?" Mikaela said in surprise. "Kunimi?"

 _Why the hell am I surprised, this is literally their school._

Kindaichi turned up to meet her gaze. His lips pinched together and he narrowed his eyes at her. Clearly, he still didn't like her much. He never had. He'd never been a big fan of Kageyama, and she'd just been associated with him and therefore received the same treatment. Not that she cared too much; she barely ever talked to Kindaichi or Kunimi to begin with.

"Hey," Kunimi said tiredly, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"I knew it was you in that video," Kindaichi said, straightening up. Mikaela raised her eyebrows- he was taller than when she last saw him. "As soon as I saw you talk to Kageyama. That was at the Youth Camp, wasn't it?"

"What tipped you off?" Mikaela said dryly.

"So you really hit Miya Atsumu with your leg?" one of the younger players asked, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Yup."

"Can we see it?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

She shot him a weird look. "Because I said no?" The boy had the nerve to look slightly ashamed, and Mikaela turned back to the group of third years. "Sorry to bother you guys. Oikawa and I went shopping today and he said you guys missed me. I'm pretty sure he just wanted to show off that he knows the psycho leg throwing girl from the video."

Hanamaki snorted. "Probably, knowing him."

"We did miss you, though," Matsukawa put in, raising an eyebrow at her. "Because you never come by."

Her jaw dropped. _"I_ never come by? Why don't you guys stop by one time?"

"The Karasuno kids would probably kill us," Hanamaki remarked, turning to Matsukawa. "Eh, Mattsun? They seem like the overprotective bunch."

"They're not..." Mikaela trailed off. It was true. The Karasuno team was a flock of crows that protected their own. She flashed back to the training camp with Nekoma and Fukurodani and how the team had acted just because she'd gotten a phone call from Oikawa. "Well, okay, maybe. They can suck it up for a bit, though. I miss you lot. I should've come down to see you guys at some point."

Iwaizumi shrugged. "You had a lot going on, don't put too much on yourself." He turned to the frozen players, who were all still fixated on their conversation. "Oi! Let's get going!"

There was a mad scramble for volleyballs as Oikawa waltzed out of the change room, humming to himself. "Oh! Mika-chan! Have you met Houkanami?"

"No," Mikaela admitted. If it was a different team, she probably would've been able to recognize him from extensive amounts of research. Aoba Johsai, however, was a team she never brought herself to investigate.

Oikawa grinned. "He's the kid I told you about! The one who knows Miya Atsumu!" He turned back to the team. "Oi! Houkanami!" A tall boy with brown hair jogged over, glancing curiously at his captain. "There, I told you I knew her. This is Mikaela Kaisha."

"I figured out that much for myself," Houkanami said with a laugh, holding out his hand. "It's great to meet you."

Mikaela smirked to herself. _Finally, someone with a bit of decency._ "You too," she said breezily. "You know Miya?"

He nodded. "Grew up in the same neighborhood. I moved here a few years back. I know how much of a dick that kid can be, so I bet you had your reasons."

"That I did," she said with a laugh.

Iwaizumi nudged her with his elbow. "Yeah, you never said what happened. What'd he say to you?"

Mikaela frowned, tapping her chin. "I think it was something along the lines of, 'what are you going to do, throw your crutch at me?' or something like that."

There was a pause as the four boys stared at her, trying to decide if she was serious or not. Then, Hanamaki burst into laughter. "You're such a petty kid," he forced out, grinning wildly. "How do you fit that much spite in your tiny body?"

"I'm not that short!"

Iwaizumi shook his head with a sigh. "I'm not even surprised."

"Mika-chan, we didn't raise you to be that petty," Oikawa said with a scowl, ruffling her hair.

Mikaela ducked under his hand. "For the second time, dumbass, you didn't raise me!"

"I may as well have!"

"More like me," Iwaizumi muttered, quiet enough that Mikaela nearly missed it, "but whatever."

"Aw, Iwa-chan," Hanamaki mocked. "Is someone feeling like a neglected parent?"

The vice captain scowled. "No!"

"Oh, he totally is."

"Can it! Go practice!"

"We're waiting for you, captains!"

Mikaela laughed. "I'll get going now, then. You've got a team to attend to. It was really nice seeing you guys, though."

"Take care," Matsukawa said with a wave.

"Don't go getting into trouble," Hanamaki added.

"Don't beat anyone up," Iwaizumi threw in.

She rolled her eyes. "You guys sound more like my parents than my actual parents." The words were out of her mouth before she realized what she said, and she snapped her jaw shut. _Parent, singular. I guess._ "I love you guys. And you too, Oikawa, I guess."

"See ya, Mika-chan!" Oikawa called. "Don't miss us too much!"

Mikaela grinned, then an idea popped into her head. "Hey, wait! Photo!"

"Photo?" Iwaizumi grumbled, but Oikawa had already latched an arm around his shoulders as Mikaela pulled out her phone. Hanamaki leaned onto Oikawa's back and Matsukawa tipped his head so he was leaning on Iwaizumi. They looked like they were going to fall over.

She laughed. "Say Oikawa's dumb!"

"Hey!"

"Oikawa's dumb," the other three chorused, and as soon as the photo was taken, Oikawa launched himself at his best friends, spitting curses. Iwaizumi ducked away, trying his best to get out of the mess that was unfolding. Matsukawa, who had been leaning on Iwaizumi for support, tumbled over, taking Hanamaki down with him. Oikawa grabbed Iwaizumi as Hanamaki grabbed Oikawa, and the group went down into a dog pile.

Mikaela laughed so hard that her sides felt like were going to split apart.

That photo she took? It was the first one that went up on her picture board when she set it up back at home.

* * *

 **Happy holidays my loves!~**

 **A reviewer pointed out to me that this story is one year old on December 16th, so naturally I had to update on December 16th. I can't believe this story has only been out for a year! The overwhelming support I've received makes it feel like it's been here a lot longer. I've been rereading this story lately and I'm so proud at how far Mikaela (and myself!) have come since the beginning.**

 **Padgent:** I've been trying to think outside of the box for how else these crazy boys could train, and as I was rereading, I saw the foot save and thought huh. So that prompted the soccer scene! I'm all about body positivity so I'm glad you liked that part, it was small but important. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **SupMyDudez:** I hope you're not disappointed! Holding onto what school she was going to for too long would've been painful for me and for y'all so I put it out in this chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **KrypticKoala:** I hope not literally XD You're way too kind (although a fanfic about this fanfic or fanart would be SO COOL) and you made me smile! Thank you so so much for your review! :)

 **Coolfire30:** I've had a couple people lately point out that they love how human Mikaela is and that is one of the highest forms of flattery I've received- to create an OC that's likeable but still has her flaws and just seems so realistic is AMAZING. I'm so glad you think so, thank you so much! If it helps, I cry reading all your reviews, so I think we're even XD You're so fricking kind. Thank you so much, as always- I really appreciate you! :D

 **hannymae:** Okay so the fact you went back and reread this made me CRY because what the HECK that's so NICE- anyways I love hearing that even the non-violent people are willing to deck people every now and then! I love Oikawa with my whole heart so I understand, I'm glad you're squealing about this as much as I am XD Agreed! I was a bit mad about the manga at first but I'm really liking it now. I'm sorry that Hinata's taller than you XD I think I've still got a few centimeters on him... so far. Unless he keeps growing (he'd better not).

I've reread your huge essay of an review (not complaining whatsoever) at least three times now and I still smile like a total doofus every time, because _what the heck why are you so nice_ and I've been debating whether or not to mend the Monomi-Mikaela relationship and ended up going for it. Everyone deserves a bit of redemption, right? And you're right- I never grew up in an Asian household and I never realized how much more... I don't want to say 'acceptable' but it's the only word I can think of- hitting your children is. It's not more acceptable but it's more common.

I'm SO thrilled and I'm literally going to reread your praise another three or four times this week to get me through the last of my exams. Best of luck with your HSC results. Thank you endlessly- you really pumped me up this week.

 **PheonixBird06:** Saeko's a very underrated character in my opinion- she's such a good sister. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **bbymojo:** I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much! :)

 **Kitty:** As I warned you, all my updates are going to be 'late' - I have no idea when I'll have time to update so honestly? I'm just happy I got this out. Thank you for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** Next Haikyuu season is coming up- January! Thank you so much for your kind words as usual :D

 **Tribble. Chan:** I literally adopt any petty character I see- it's kind of bad. XD Actually, the anime follows the manga almost exactly! At least, it has so far- I'm looking forward to season four. Thank you for all your kind words and for your review, you're much too kind to me! :D

 **animefreak112097:** Aw, thank you so much! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Just nobody:** It just kind of happened while I was writing and I was like huh. Mik. Sounds cute. And so it stayed. XD I'm glad you liked it! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Swaggishima:** Procrastination buddies ;) Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **jilyshiper:** Gurl go sleep XD Thank you for the love! PM me soon ;)

 **Guest:** I'm glad you liked it! :)

 **bellamario:** Thank you so much! I'm glad you've been enjoying it, thank you for your review! :D

 **xOphiuchusx:** Of course! ;)

 **Everyone deserves a shot at redemption, so here's Mikaela's mother giving it a shot. Whether this actually works out of not has yet to be seen... ;)**

 **Thank you for your kindness! Happy holidays!~**


	46. The Arrival

**I'm so grateful for Tribble. Chan, Sayori1412, Shadow Wolf 15846, sakuraddiction, AtheB, hannymae, FyreDraagyn12, Padgent, reddyeru, Kitty, Swaggishima, bbymojo, SupMyDudez, xOphiuchusx, Monxu Aki, PheonixBird06, randomthing43, DesolateSun, BTricks, Lemurmur, Vanessa2428, Edela45074, Mrs. LinKoujo15, bannamonkey, ABushyOyster, Featherfrost of Stormclan, BlueBirdBlue29, MagicLover16, girafou, xCrescent, Kohaku Sakurano, doubi1998, HikariTatami, always8567, ayamiamy, James Oliver Wood, and JuStMeThEfReAk for your support! Thank you so much!**

* * *

They had a practice match against Date Tech High, which proved to be much more difficult than Mikaela initially anticipated. She'd never seen Karasuno play Date Tech, but she'd seen Date Tech face Aoba Johsai, and they'd been nowhere near as threatening as they were now. Their blocking, as she had expected, was ridiculously good. Futakuchi, their captain, was the only one with a dangerous serve, but Aone of Date Tech was getting there. They were going to be a tough team to beat in the future.

Karasuno won four sets and lost four sets. By the time it was over, the boys were absolutely exhausted. Kageyama had done well all game, but Mikaela had mentioned to him that Tsukishima could jump higher than he currently was. Her cousin took it upon himself to set the ball higher for Tsukishima, which the blond did not appreciate.

All in all, it was good practice, and everyone seemed to be working on something. Asahi was trying to stagger the timing of his blocking, Hinata was trying to work on receiving, Kageyama's setting was still top notch, and Tsukishima was now (against his will) hitting significantly higher than he was before. Mikaela was still working with Hinata on the new serve technique they'd cooked up, but it was still a bit of a work in progress.

The break seemed to fly by, and New Year's came around. Mikaela managed to drag Kageyama to the local shrine to give their proper prayers (apparently Hinata wanted to go with him and Kageyama had shut him down flat, so Hinata came complaining to Mikaela and you can bet she made damn sure Kageyama got out to the shrine with her and Hinata) and they ended up meeting Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, and Yachi there.

"Didn't think you'd be here," Mikaela remarked to Tsukishima as Hinata started badgering Yachi.

Tsukishima huffed. "Yamaguchi forced me."

She hummed in understanding as the six of them started heading up the stairs to the shrine. "Kaela!" Yamaguchi chirped happily, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "How's the basement?"

Mikaela grinned. "It's so nice. You should come over and see it after this!"

"For sure!" Yamaguchi beamed, dimples forming on his cheeks. "Is that an open invitation?"

"Sure, you're all welcome," she agreed with a shrug.

"Yay!" Hinata cheered, skipping circles around them. "I want to see your basement, Kaisha!"

Kageyama shrugged. "I should be training."

"You're taking a day off," Mikaela insisted, glaring at him. Kageyama glared back, mumbled something under his breath, and broke into a run up the steps. Hinata squawked in protest- something about Kageyama getting a head start- and took off after him. "So much for a day off," she muttered, and Yachi laughed.

"They're really into volleyball," the blonde said with a grin, smiling at Mikaela. She smiled back at her.

They made it up to the shrine, and everyone lined up and clapped their hands together in prayer. Mikaela squeezed her eyes shut, trying to gather all of her prayers in her head. _I pray for good fortune for our upcoming games. I pray for future health and safety. I..._

Mikaela paused.

That was odd.

"Kaela? Kaisha! You good?"

Mikaela jerked her head up to see Yamaguchi, staring at her with a confused grin on his face. "You okay?" he repeated. "Everyone's already gone. You blanked out."

"Tadashi, I..." Mikaela trailed off, looking at the shrine and then turning back to Yamaguchi. "You know, I used to pray an awful lot," she said with a casual shrug. "Parents' divorce, prosthetic problems, changing schools, friendship, my relationship with Kageyama, my relationship with my mother, my grades, volleyball... but I can't think of anything." She smiled softly. "This is the first time in a while I haven't had to urge to pray for those things."

Yamaguchi didn't say anything for a moment. "Kaisha, that's awesome," he said eventually, smiling at her.

Mikaela's smile split into a large grin. "Yams, life is _good._ I can't remember the last time I thought so."

He grinned back at her. "That's great news!" Yamaguchi leaned towards her and grabbed her in a hug, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Mikaela laughed and hugged him back, smiling into his shoulder.

 _Life is good._

Yamaguchi pulled back, letting his hands rest on her shoulders. "Let's go," he said, gesturing behind him to where Kageyama and Hinata were arguing. Tsukishima seemed to be egging them on and Yachi was trying to break them apart. "This'll be fun."

She laughed. "I don't doubt that."

They wandered over to the group, and together they began to tour the stalls that various vendors had set up. Some were selling little trinkets and such, but Mikaela's main interest was the fortune table, where they were handing out their odds for the year to come. The six of them gathered around the table and picked out their fortunes, eager to open them.

"Ha!" Hinata cried out as he tore his open. "Future blessing!"

"Same here," Yachi said happily, showing her card to Hinata.

"This is garbage," Kageyama said with a scowl, glaring so hard at his card that it looked like he wanted to burn a hole through it.

Tsukishima leaned over the setter's shoulder and smirked. "Great curse? Wow, you really are unlucky."

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "Kags, you got great curse?"

He scowled, about to reply, but Hinata jumped on his back. "Aw, Kageyama's cursed! Noroiyama!"

Kageyama snarled in retaliation and shook himself, trying to rid Hinata from his back. The orange-haired boy clung on like a koala to a tree, and Kageyama couldn't manage to shake him. Yamaguchi showed off his fortune- also future blessing, like Yachi and Hinata- and ran over to go help Kageyama as Mikaela tore open hers.

She laughed. "Curse. Wow."

Tsukishima smirked, and held up his card. "Of course I got the same thing as you. I'm not even surprised at this point."

"Why?" Mikaela taunted with a grin. "Sick of me?"

"I can't seem to get rid of you, no matter how hard I try," Tsukishima remarked, twisting the card over in his hand and refusing to look at her. "You're annoying."

Her grin widened. "You don't seem to be trying very hard," she teased.

To Mikaela's delight, his cheeks reddened. "Idiot," he said with a scowl, turning away from her and tucking his chin into his scarf. "You're not worth the effort."

"Whatever lets you sleep at night, Tsukishima."

"Frankly, you're one of the most annoying people I know, your Highness."

"Worse than Tobio?"

"Slightly."

"Really? Worse than Shoyo?"

Tsukishima muttered something under his breath. "Dear lord, you're a pain."

"Oi! Kaela! Tsukki!" They both turned, conversation temporarily on hold. Yamaguchi was waving at them; he and Yachi were standing next to a booth but Hinata and Kageyama were nowhere to be found. "There's some cool stuff over here!"

The pair headed over to the stand, where Yachi was examining several small keychains and assorted accessories. Yachi was scanning the keychains and nearly jumped when Mikaela nudged her. "Oh! Mikaela!"

"Hey, Yachi," she said casually, leaning over the booth. "Cool stuff?"

"Yep," Yachi agreed, fingers drifting over a small bracelet with a fake jewel on the end. "Are you excited for nationals? I'm sure the boys are."

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah. A bit nervous, but I think everyone is."

She laughed. "I don't know how you could do that without being nervous."

The manager grinned. "I guess so." Mikaela bit her lip, trying best how to word her question in her head. After a quick internal debate, she came to her usual conclusion: what the hell, why not? "Hey, Yachi," Mikaela said quickly, rushing to get all of the question out before she lost her nerve, "want to be the team's manager next year?"

Yachi's jaw dropped open. "What? Me? Why? How? Is this a good idea? Why did you ask me? What-"

"Wait! Breathe!" Mikaela grabbed Yachi's shoulders as the poor girl nearly tipped off of her feet, overwhelmed. "I kind of want to try playing volleyball next year, so I can't commit to being the manager. You've been to a couple games, you've drawn posters, you know the boys..." she trailed off. "I can't think of anyone more perfect than you."

Yachi couldn't form words. "...More perfect than me?"

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah. It's completely up to you, though."

"Yes!"

"Really?" she said in relief. "You'll do it?"

Yachi nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling. "I'd love to! I've always admired what you do and it looks like fun!"

Mikaela exhaled, a grin forcing its way onto her face. "Great. Great! Thank you so much. Do you want to come to our practice tomorrow?"

"Yes please!" she chirped happily, beaming. "Thank you!"

"No, thank _you,"_ Mikaela emphasized, relaxing her shoulders. She hadn't even realized how nervous she'd been about that until Yachi had agreed and the tension had flooded out of her shoulders. She turned towards the table. "Any of these catch your eye?"

"A few." The blonde held up one small chain that had a series of stars on it, showing it to Mikaela. "Isn't this cute?" Yachi exclaimed, swinging the chain back and forth.

"Yeah, it is," Mikaela agreed, watching the star spin in circles before Yachi set it down. "Are you going to get it?"

She shook her head. "I think I'm going to get this one, though." She held up a different keychain with a shooting star pendant. Similar in colour and style, but not quite the same. "Are you going to get one?"

Mikaela smiled and shook her head. "I'm okay, I've got my own already." She pulled her bag around to show off her dinosaur keychain, swinging from the zipper. She cupped it in her hand and held it out to her friend.

Yachi's eyes widened. "That's so cute! Where'd you get it?"

"From one of the museums in Tokyo," Mikaela said, lifting her eyes to notice Tsukishima eyeing her and the keychain. When he noticed her watching, he huffed and turned away. She smiled to herself. "Yeah, I love it."

She didn't miss the proud smirk on Tsukishima's face before he walked away.

* * *

Nationals came at her like a truck with no brakes.

Mikaela was set to badger Ukai about the brackets for the tournament and who was facing who until he emailed it to her online. She was startled; she had been completely prepared to go hunting for it on her own.

 _ **Coach Ukai (10:22):**_ _I only sent it to you now so you didn't waste your whole break on this._

The first team they were up against was Tsubakihara Academy. Mikaela scoured though dozens of videos, social media pages, the academy's social media, articles, anything she could get her hands on. Thankfully, they were just at nationals the previous year, so there was recent footage. They had lost in the first round, so it was hard to get anything useful, but Mikaela picked up on some smaller details.

She snapped her pencil in half when she saw who they would play after: Inarizaki High, who was seeded second in the tournament and had a bye in the first round. If they beat Tsubakihara Academy, they'd have to face Miya Atsumu the next round.

"Oh, it's on," Mikaela grumbled to herself as she immediately started looking up as much as she could about Inarizaki High.

 _We're going to destroy you, Miya Atsumu._

* * *

"Are you tired, Kaela?" Yamaguchi said with a laugh as Mikaela yawned for what must've been the tenth time that morning.

She shook her head. "N... No," she forced out, rubbing her eyes. "Just..."

"Tired," Tsukishima finished for her.

Mikaela glared at him. "No."

"Let me guess," the blond taunted, smirking at her. He leaned forwards, his arms crossed. "You stayed up all night hunting some lead about a team we might play. Better yet, it's not actually the team that we'd be facing in the first round, but a different team that we _might_ face along the way, so the information might actually be useless."

Mikaela opened her mouth, then closed it. She crossed her arms and tucked her chin into her chest, glaring at the pavement. "I hate you," she grumbled.

"Which means I'm right."

"Oh, fuck off."

"Oh really? Well-"

"It's too early in the morning for this," Daichi announced loudly, clapping his hands on their shoulders and pulling them apart. He frowned at them, and Mikaela immediately shrunk back. "Let's just get on the bus so we can get to the hotel."

"Yes, sir," Mikaela and Tsukishima said in unison. They glared at each other, but Mikaela's glare eventually morphed into a smile. "I can't stay mad at you," she said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "You're just too dumb."

"Captain's right, it's too early for this," the middle blocker said with a snort, adjusting his glasses.

"Ah, young love," Sugawara said with a happy sigh as he walked past.

That successfully shut both of them up. After an awkward pause, Tsukishima coughed and removed himself from the conversation. Mikaela sighed as he pushed past her to board the bus, her eyes trailing after him as he left. _God, he's so good looking._

Mikaela blinked and shook herself. _Not now, moron._ She nearly jumped out of her skin when Kageyama tapped her on the shoulder. "Ready to go?"

"Sure," she said with a shrug, following her cousin onto the bus.

The trip was long and a bit bumpy, but at least Mikaela got a semi-decent nap in along the way. She was awoken to several excited shouts of "it's the Sky Tree!" and groaned before pulling her jacket over her eyes. Kageyama shook her awake again as they pulled up to their hotel. "We're here," he said quietly, jerking his chin towards the window.

Mikaela blearily opened her eyes and squinted out the window, looking at the twenty-story tall hotel building. "Damn," she said tiredly. "That's nice."

"I don't think it's that one," Shimizu said from the seat in front of them.

Mikaela blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of the sleep in her eyes, and looked next to the grand hotel, where there was a sad, three-story inn with small doors in the front. "Shouldn't have gotten my hopes up," she grumbled, pulling herself out of her seat.

Karasuno stumbled off the bus as a team and started unloading their bags from the back of the bus. Daichi started calling out instructions: drop off their luggage, grab their volleyball equipment, head to the rental gym. Mikaela nearly stumbled from the weight of her bag. _Crap, what the hell did I pack?_

"I bet this place is totally haunted!" Tanaka cried out in excitement, bolting for the door with Nishinoya and Hinata hot on his heels. "Let's go explore!" One stare from Daichi was all that was needed for the three boys to halt in their tracks and say, "Yes, sir," before continuing into the hotel at a much slower speed.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Mikaela grumbled under her breath, hefting her bag onto her shoulder.

"It won't be that bad," Yamaguchi said, nudging her gently. "I mean, if we've got food to eat and a roof over our heads, what more can we ask for?"

Mikaela sighed and followed him through the doors.

* * *

The rental gym was good and practice went moderately well, but it was easy to tell that some of the team were beginning to feel the nerves settle in. "Is the air thinner around here?" Asahi asked with a wheeze as he bumped the ball to Daichi.

"Deep breaths, Asahi," Sugawara encouraged, tossing another ball to Hinata.

"We're almost at sea level," Ennoshita added.

Mikaela sighed, swirling a pencil between her fingers as she watched Nishinoya and Tanaka rally the ball back and forth, screaming whenever it came to them. Kageyama seemed as calm as always; the high intensity of tournaments and the like never seemed to bother him. Her eyes drifted to Tsukishima, who was rallying with Yamaguchi.

"Kaisha-chan?" Mikaela turned around, bringing her face to face with Shimizu. "How're you feeling?"

She shrugged. "Fine, I guess. A bit antsy."

She smiled. "I can tell. Do you need anything?"

"I need a good night's sleep," Mikaela said, and they both laughed. "But otherwise, no, I'm alright. Thank you though."

"I assume your lack of sleep is from the usual?" Ukai asked, wandering over.

"The usual?" Mikaela questioned, quirking an eyebrow. He held her stare, and she sighed. "Yep, the usual."

"Mikaela, although I appreciate the dedication, your sleep is a priority," he said sternly, shaking his head. "Besides, we can't have our star stalker falling asleep in the middle of our games."

She snorted. "Like that'll ever happen."

"Did you get good information, at least?"

"Of course."

"Mikaela."

"If you're talking about whether my information is 'relevant' or not, then yes, my information is all practical and specifically game-focused," Mikaela said with a roll of her eyes. "There's a lot more to work with when the teams are at nationals level."

Ukai nodded, watching as Daichi called them all to the service line to start serving drills. "I agree. I think we'll go over our match for tomorrow one more time, and I'd love your input, and then I've got a gift for them."

Mikaela straightened up. "What is it?"

"Secret. It'll be good, though." She shrugged, deciding not to press him any further on it, and turned back to practice. Hinata was paused at the serving line, adjusting himself for the serve she'd taught him. Mikaela beamed to herself as he successfully pulled it off. "Did you teach him how to do that?" Ukai asked, pointing at Hinata. She nodded. "Impressive. I never would've thought to try and teach him that."

"Well, it's almost never seen in guy's games," she explained as Hinata set himself up again. "It's not even that common on the women's side, either. But it actually works a bit better when you're a bit shorter, I think."

Ukai nodded. "Have you ever played against someone who uses that kind of serve?"

Mikaela shook her head. "Nah. I didn't even know it existed until I started watching American volleyball."

He paused. "American volleyball?"

"Yep. Just online videos and stuff."

"So you've never actually seen it done."

"Not really."

"How'd you learn how to do it, then?"

"Watching a lot of the same video. I practiced it a lot on my own but I never understood why it was even a decent option, but it's because I wasn't doing it right. As soon as I got it- it's hard to learn from just watching other people do it- I taught it to Hinata. His overhand serve isn't overly strong, but it's consistent, and this serve will be a nice alternative if he's trying to change it up in a game. Granted, Yamaguchi's serves are top notch and he's a perfect pinch server, but if you've already used your substitutions in a set and don't have another option, this could work."

Ukai stared at her, unblinking, and Mikaela shrugged. "What?"

"Every time I hear you talk about volleyball, I'm impressed," he said quietly, and Mikaela blushed under the praise. "We're going to miss you next year."

She paused. "I never said anything to you about leaving next year."

The coach shrugged, his eyes following the volleyball as Kageyama served it over the net. "Well, you never made it obvious, but it was easy enough to figure out. You brought Yachi- is that her name? Yachi?- in for a few practices. I know she made the posters and such that we see around, but there's been an increase in the practices she's attended. Plus you're as obsessed with volleyball as Kageyama is, so I'd genuinely be surprised if you weren't playing volleyball now that the surgery is complete and you're feeling fine."

Mikaela didn't reply.

"Well?"

"Yeah," she said softly, watching Nishinoya successfully receive Kinoshita's jump floater. "Yeah, that's all right."

"Are you staying at Karasuno?"

"Yep."

Ukai nodded. "Well, that's good to hear, at least. You should probably tell the team."

She sighed. _This was inevitable._ "I wanted to, but they're so concentrated on this tournament," she mumbled, avoiding eye contact with the coach. "There hasn't been a good time. I don't know when to do it."

"They'll probably be more proud of you than upset," he pointed out. "Tell them tonight. If anything, some of them have already started to suspect and are concerned about it enough already."

Mikaela bit her lip- she hadn't thought of that. "Okay," she said quietly.

They stood in silence as the team switched from serving drills to spiking drills, trying to stay in a relatively typical sort of environment. Mikaela's eyes lingered on Tsukishima as he leaped into a spike.

"Thank you," she forced out quietly, trying to ignore the heat behind her eyes. "For everything."

"No, thank you," Ukai returned with a casual shrug. "You gave a lot for this team. I'm proud of you."

"Th- Thank you."

Mikaela turned away so that he couldn't see the tears gathering in her eyes.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Ukai did, in fact, go over the video of their first opponent one more time, but this time with Mikaela's commentary. She pointed out their ace and his favorite types of shots and tells. She tried to go into as much detail as she could about their strengths and how to counteract some of their common attacks. She described their weaknesses (albeit few) and tried to elaborate in such a way that it would make sense to everyone.

God, she _loved_ doing this. She was going to miss it.

"Alright, tonight, there's one last thing you should watch," Ukai announced, pulling out another cassette tape. "This is the Takinoue Appliances special- the 'I'm Awesome!' movie!" The team seemed confused, but the coach was more than happy to explain further. "It's a montage of all of your amazing, awesome, and just downright crazy plays! Everyone gets the spotlight!"

"Awesome!" Nishinoya cried out.

"I wanna watch!" Tanaka added.

Several other members of the team leaned forwards, ready to get their own tape, but Ukai withdrew the bag slightly. "In a second. First, I think Mikaela has something she wants to say."

All eyes turned to her, and Mikaela immediately got cold feet. _Great intro, Ukai. Thanks._ "Uh, yeah, I guess," Mikaela stammered, shifting nervously. She tucked her arms behind her back. She exhaled slowly. "Okay. I wanted to wait until after nationals, but it's probably better to do it now anyways. I'm quitting as your team manager."

She had expected a few outbursts, namely from Tanaka and Nishinoya. However, to her surprise, they were both staring at her with dropped jaws. "...Seriously?" Ennoshita said slowly.

Mikaela nodded, swallowing nervously. "Uh, most of you have seen or met Yachi by now- she'll be taking over for me. I'm going to be trying out for the girl's team."

"You're gonna play," Tanaka repeated, and she nodded sheepishly.

"Not at Niiyama?" Tsukishima asked, leaning his chin into his palm. He was smirking.

She grinned. "Karasuno. You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Mikaela, that's awesome," Daichi said warmly, breaking the awkward tension. "You're getting back into playing! I'll talk to Michimiya when we get back, she might want to meet you."

"You're so grown up," Sugawara said with a wistful sigh. "Mikaela, that's great."

This was followed with several more congratulatory phrases and Mikaela felt a weight lifted from her shoulders. After several promises to Tanaka and Nishinoya that she would still attend their games and be rooting them on as much as she could, Hinata attacked her in a hug, mumbling into her shoulder about how happy he was that she was staying at Karasuno and playing volleyball. Ukai handed out their tapes, and everyone settled down into their evening routines.

Kageyama wanted to go out for a run, and Hinata was ready to join him, but Ennoshita was quick to make sure they didn't go alone. Mikaela was prepared to volunteer to go with him, but Ennoshita actually managed to convince Tsukishima to go along with them. After laughing at him (he glared at her in retaliation) Mikaela hunted out Yamaguchi.

Tsukishima had been bothering her more than usual lately. It wasn't that he was doing anything different; Mikaela would always be annoyed with him regardless. But her feelings for him were starting to drive her insane.

Kageyama definitely wasn't the right person to talk to about it. She wasn't close enough with Shimizu to try and talk about it. Maybe Yachi, but she wasn't here at the moment. Hinata? Would he get it?

Yamaguchi was the natural choice.

"Hinata and Kageyama are going out on a jog," she remarked as she wandered over to where Yamaguchi was sitting, his video playing on the tablet in his hands. "You gonna go too?"

The pinch server shook his head. "Nah, I feel better watching the movie."

"Fair enough." Mikaela sat herself down to Yamaguchi, and he tilted the screen towards her. She watched the screen as Yamaguchi nailed a service ace against Aoba Johsai. "This is cool," she said as the video flipped to another one of Yamaguchi's serves, this time against Shiratorizawa. "You'd better be hyped for tomorrow."

"I am," Yamaguchi said with a laugh. "Nervous, but I feel a lot better now." He paused the video and turned his head to glance at her. "You okay, Kaela? You seem a bit... fidgety."

"Yes," she replied automatically. Then, she sighed. "No. Can I talk to you about something?"

He nodded. "Of course!"

"It's about Tsukishima."

Immediately, Yamaguchi's innocent expression flipped into a shit-eating grin. God, she hadn't even known he could make that expression. "Tsukki, huh?" Yamaguchi said teasingly, grinning wildly.

"Tadashi!" Mikaela exclaimed, flushing bright red.

"Sorry, sorry! I couldn't help it!" Yamaguchi waved his hands in front of him, his teasing grin morphing into something more bashful and sympathetic. "Sorry."

She huffed. "I guess you know, then?"

"I guessed," he corrected. "So you like him?"

Mikaela groaned, tucking her knees up to her chest and burying her forehead into her knees. "Why the hell is it so obvious," she grumbled.

Yamaguchi laughed. "Oh, Kaela."

"Help," she mumbled weakly.

He paused, collecting himself. "Okay. I'm sorry. What's up?"

She grumbled something under her breath that Yamaguchi couldn't catch, so he sat patiently and waited for her to continue. "I don't know what to do," Mikaela said pathetically, her eyes flitting to Sugawara, who was studiously setting out his school notes and study materials. "Honestly, I just want to pretend I don't feel the way I do, because that would be so much easier for everyone involved, but it's driving me insane."

"Insane how?" Yamaguchi asked quietly.

Mikaela shrugged. "I just can't stop thinking about it. I'm trying to concentrate on nationals, but it's hard. I just... I can't focus."

"And you'd rather just... ignore it?"

"Yeah."

"Why? It's causing you enough trouble, right?"

"It's better than confessing." Yamaguchi frowned at her, and Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. I don't want to get rejected by him, that'd completely ruin our friendship."

He shrugged. "It'll feel a lot better to get off your chest."

She nodded. "Yeah, but it's not worth ruining our friendship. Yams, he..." she lowered her voice. "He means a lot to me," Mikaela murmured weakly, tucking her knees tighter into her chest.

"Oh, Kaela," Yamaguchi said with a sigh. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him, grateful for the support. "Just one question," he said quietly, and Mikaela nodded. "Do you _seriously_ think he's going to reject you?"

"Maybe," she said, and when Yamaguchi frowned at her, she sighed. "No. I... I think there's a chance he feels the same. But I don't want to risk it. I've seen him reject people before, it's not pretty."

He went quiet, and they sat in silence for a minute until Yamaguchi piped up, "Mikaela, I've known Tsukki for a long time."

She nodded, indicating for him to continue.

"We met when I was getting bullied by these kids," he said with a weak laugh, and Mikaela turned to look at him. "It was such a long time ago, the details are a bit fuzzy. But I remember that they were teasing me and trying to get me carry their bags. Or something. And then Tsukki walked by. I recognized him from my class, but he was always so intimidating, so I never talked to him. He was taller than everyone else in class. He just looked at them and called them lame, and they took off."

Yamaguchi smiled wistfully. "I've followed him around ever since. He's why I'm at Karasuno. He's my best friend." He turned to look at her. "I know him really well. So believe me when I say that he likes you too."

Mikaela couldn't help but let the optimism flood her head. "Really?" she squeaked out. "Has he told you that?"

"He doesn't have to," the pinch server said honestly. "We don't talk about that sort of stuff, honestly. Tsukki just mostly gets annoyed with it. I've asked him for advice a few times, and he generally does give decent advice. But he doesn't make friends easily. He just doesn't want to. The fact you guys have got as close as you are is a good sign."

"So he's never explicitly told you," Mikaela clarified, and Yamaguchi sighed.

"Kaisha, do you trust me?"

"Yes?"

"Then trust me when I say he likes you. I wouldn't tell you that if I didn't believe it."

Mikaela exhaled slowly, surprised at how much lighter she felt. "Thanks, Tadashi. I feel a bit better."

He beamed at her. "Happy to help. Now, what are you going to do?"

"...Hide my feelings?"

 _"No."_

She'd never heard Yamaguchi sound so firm. Mikaela sighed, leaning back into the wall. "I have to confess, because he's not going to, is he?"

He grinned, glad that she finally caught on. "Yep."

"And if he says no?"

"He won't."

"But if he does?"

Yamaguchi glared at her- like, he actually glared. Mikaela almost shrunk back right then and there. "He won't," Yamaguchi said firmly. "But if, on the off chance he does, then you keep being friends. It's only going to be awkward if you make it awkward."

 _Easier said than done._ "Thanks, Tadashi," Mikaela said gratefully, forcing a smile onto her face. "It's nice to talk about it."

"Anytime!" he chirped happily, hugging her gently. She hugged him back, smiling into his shoulder. "I hope it all works out, Kaela. The sooner you get this done, the better you'll feel."

She nodded, pulling back from his hug. "I don't want things to be awkward between us during nationals, though."

Yamaguchi shrugged. "Isn't it awkward already?"

"Fair enough," Mikaela said with a laugh. "Okay. I'll tell him."

"And you'll tell me after? As soon as it's done?"

"Of course," she promised.

 _This better work out._

* * *

 **** Noroi is Japanese for curse. Hinata was just making a play on Kageyama's name (Noroiyama) like he does with Bakayama. :)**

 **Hello! I hope your holidays are going well!**

 **PheonixBird06:** Me too! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Monxu Aki:** I'm glad you liked all the interactions and scenarios last chapter! Don't worry, even though the manga doesn't exactly go through everything I want to write about, I'm definitely going to include parts of Mikaela's time with the Karasuno girls' team. Thank you for your review! :D

 **xOphiuchusx:** Thank you!

 **Padgent:** I love her relationship with Oikawa and Iwaizumi- it sort of wrote itself. Thank you kindly for your review, happy holidays to you too! :D

 **SupMyDudez:** Trust me, I've got something planned for her and Miya XD I was rereading the Inarizaki match and I thought of a couple things I could try and do. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, thank you for your review! :)

 **bbymojo:** I think Oikawa is a favorite for a lot of people, and I have no problem writing about him as much as people desire ;) Thank you for your review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** I'm the same way- I never realize how much I miss certain characters/teams until I read about them and I cry :,) I can't believe I've managed to keep this story afloat with a regular (almost) update schedule. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** I never realized how differently I write Mikaela around the Karasuno boys versus the Aoba Johsai boys, but I'm happy for the contrast- it shows the different relationships she has with each of them. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **sakuraddiction:** Wow! Thanks for binge reading this XD I'm glad you've enjoyed it! The whole mother-daughter thing was the only thing I had set in stone for this story, everything else either came down to reading fan reviews for inspiration (not some of my prouder moments) or letting the characters write themselves. Anyways, I'm glad you've caught up, thank you for your review! :D

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** This story was never a romance story to begin with, so I plan on taking things slowly. It's a subplot, if anything. Trust me though- you'll get a confession within the next two to three chapters. ;) Thank you for your review! :)

 **reddyeru:** I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **hannymae:** I don't really plan my timing when I release chapters but I'm happy it worked out for you XD Yeah, the redemption bit definitely could've been written better; I was trying to show how she didn't completely change her views but she's certainly trying... I think a bit of more time of that chapter could've helped. Your side commentary makes me laugh ("so sudden that it slapped me in the face and called me a bitch")! I also do not have an eye for shopping or fashion but I figured if there was absolutely anyone in the Haikyuu universe who would, it would be Oikawa XD The bit with Kindaichi and Kunimi was rough; Mikaela never really knew them outside of the fact they were Kageyama's teammates. She and Kageyama certainly weren't as close in middle school as they are now, and Mikaela wasn't nearly as protective and invested in his volleyball career as she is now. In middle school, she was concerned, but she never actively interfered with Kageyama's team. I guess she was just a bit too nervous to. Thank you so much for your wonderful review! :)

 **Tribble. Chan:** I will always accept more nice words ;) The 'Asahi take the wheel' bit in your review made me cackle XD I'm glad you liked the interactions! Yeah, Makki and Mattsun were bound to make an appearance at some point; I like to think that they're just being kind enough to ignore it for her. I'm a bit torn of what to do with the time skip. I think I'm going to show bits and pieces of those five years because I can't do captions that say what she did with her life like Furudate can XD I'll try to condense it to a chapter but we'll have to see. I've got two much I want to write about ;-; Although for the Karasuno team, these next few years are important, sure, but they got wrapped up nice and quickly, but Mikaela's still got some much development and team bonding to do and... ugh. Anyways, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kitty:** Nationals are starting next chapter! This was more of just a filler in between. Thank you for your review! :)

 **FyreDraagyn12:** Aha I'm glad you enjoyed, thank you for your review! :D

 **AtheB:** I'm so glad you liked it, thank you for binge reading this! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **A bit of a filler chapter, but certain events of the manga inspired me to write more. Sigh. Thank you for all of your kind support, and I hope you're as excited as I am to dive into nationals next chapter!**

 **Happy New Year! :)**


	47. The First Match

**Thank you so much to Kitty, Tribble. Chan, Sayori1412, Shadow Wolf 15846, FyreDraagyn12, hannymae, jily shiper, SupMyDudez, bbymojo, Mads-Chikistorm, NoamiM200, WarriorsErin, MoonlightFox16, Padgent, Averi-nova, Monxu Aki, bellamario, BlueSeraphos, Irish. lee, UltraAsterous, Mimistar395, Mithgard, PyrotechDaArsonist, XclosetmonsterX, BlackMoonWhiteSky, ICan'tThinkOfACleverUsername, Quaketoro, CatTheCatOfCats, SkyGodSlayer, Lilty Ravenhearth, Smartha12, A Piece Of Pax, Fellow-Human9923, Azura Knight, Maorin, Agentdarkjewel, Tigereye1314, livelovedance920, Biankia, pastelove, and AudriaFolts97 for your support!**

 **Spoilers for nationals ahead.**

* * *

She chickened out.

Mikaela waited until who knows how long for Kageyama and Hinata to return from their run with their chaperone, Tsukishima. She stayed up watching volleyball footage of Inarizaki's matches, trying to figure out other small details about the twins and the other ridiculous players on their team. When the trio returned to the hotel, she took one look at the group and immediately went to her room.

"This is dumb," Mikaela grumbled to herself as she settled herself into her bed. "Why do I have to be the one to confess?"

The next day, the entire team was hyped up about the upcoming game. Mikaela couldn't help but get swept up in the enthusiasm. The trip to the stadium felt much longer than it needed to be, and Mikaela was constantly fidgeting.

"Stop it," Kageyama said with a sigh when he saw her flipping a pen around in her fingers.

"Stop what?"

"Fidgeting. It's ridiculous."

Mikaela sighed. "I can't help it! I'm nervous."

He shot her a weird look. "Why are _you_ nervous? You're not even playing."

"This is nationals, Kags! This is all of Japan!"

"...And?"

She groaned, sliding down in her seat. "You're ridiculous."

The opening ceremonies were crowded. Even before they'd entered the building, they were shoulder to shoulder when walking. Karasuno ended up running into Nekoma, and Mikaela got a quick chance to catch up with Kuroo, which really wasn't more than him teasing her and her punching him in the shoulder.

("So, Temper-san, that video-"

"Can it or I'll kick you so hard you won't be able to walk."

"...Yes, ma'am.")

It was even more packed when they were inside; everyone was bumping into each other as they tried to force their way through the crowd. Mikaela twisted to get out of the way of a passing player and craned her neck to look around for the rest of the team. She was of average height for a girl (no matter how much Kuroo told her she was short) but this sea of tall volleyball players was really making her feel tiny.

"My, my. What's this? Don't tell me you're actually nervous, Sawamura-san." Mikaela turned around to see Kuroo, sweating buckets and poking fun at her captain.

Daichi didn't even flinch. "Me? Your chattiness makes me think you're the nervous one, Kuroo-san."

"Yeah, yeah." Kuroo rolled his eyes and pointed at someone in the crowd. "Your number ten looks like a middle schooler who got lost."

Mikaela turned to see Hinata, wandering through a throng of players, looking even more clueless than usual. With a sigh, Mikaela started pushing her way through to collect him. "Shoyo!" she called out as she got closer. "Hey, Shoyo!"

He saw her and turned towards her with a wave. "Kaisha! Hey-" Hinata accidentally bumped into another player. As he squeaked out his apologies, he backed up and bumped into Nishinoya, sending him stumbling into a girl. Thankfully, the girl caught him before he fell.

"Thank you," Mikaela said gratefully as she got through the rest of the crowd. "They can be a bit..."

She trailed off when she saw who had caught Nishinoya.

"Mikaela-chan?"

"Amanai-san," Mikaela choked out, remembering one of the only upper years that had treated her with any kindness back at Niiyama. "It's been a while."

Amanai Kanoka, a second-year on the Niiyama volleyball team, was exactly six feet tall and a wing spiker. Mikaela had analyzed her playing style while she was trying out for the Niiyama team because she had been one of the contenders for the open spot on the starting line. From what Mikaela had gathered, she'd gotten it. "How've you been?" Amanai said, offering her a small smile.

Mikaela couldn't even bring the words to her mouth. "Um- Ah- Good! You?" she stammered.

The Niiyama player was about to reply when Tanaka jumped into their conversation. "Hey! Kanoka! Dude, it's been forever!" Tanaka easily jumped into the conversation with Amanai- apparently he'd known her since he was a kid, from what Mikaela could gather- and eventually he sighed, pausing in his rant and staring at her. "You're..." he said slowly, but whatever he was going to say died on his lips.

Mikaela's eyes caught movement- specifically, a head of short blonde hair- and she desperately threw herself behind the closest person. _I know who that is._

"Amanai. Time to line up," she heard the Niiyama captain say, and Mikaela shrunk down.

"Oh! Sorry, I was just talking to..." Amanai trailed off. "Never mind. Good luck, Ryu-chan."

Mikaela watched them walk away, and sighed with relief. _Nothing to be scared of, just an old team. Why am I still so freaked out about them?_ Mikaela shook her head. _I don't want to deal with that right now anyways._

"Um, you okay there, Mikaela?"

She jerked her head up. The person she'd ducked behind was none other than Motoya Komori, one of the players she'd met at the youth camp. "M- Motoya-san!" Mikaela exclaimed in surprise, backing up. "Sorry! Yeah, I'm okay."

"You seem a bit jumpy," he said with a small smirk. "Should I ask?"

"Definitely not," she replied immediately, rolling her eyes. "How've you been?"

"Good," Motoya said, shrugging casually. "How's the Internet fame?"

Mikaela groaned. "If I had one hundred yen every time someone mentioned that, I'd be rich." They both laughed, and Mikaela sighed. "It could be worse. The whole team's been pretty nice about it, and I haven't been approached yet since I've been here. It's only a matter of time, though."

Motoya crossed his arms. "Could be worse. You could've been humiliated."

"I basically was, Motoya-san. I-"

"Just Motoya's fine, we're friends here."

She scowled, but her scowl faded to a smirk. "Fine, _Motoya,_ I essentially was humiliated. I literally exposed my prosthetic to the world. Guaranteed, if I showed it off right now, everyone would stare."

"Everyone would stare because it's a fake leg," Motoya said with roll of his eyes, "not because you're Internet famous. Don't go getting a big head on us here."

"I'm not," Mikaela protested, but she backed down. "Wait, who's us?"

He sighed. "I'd like to say it's me and Sakusa, but..." he gestured behind him, and Mikaela nearly laughed; the number one ace in all of Japan was hiding in the corner of the room, glaring at anyone who came remotely near. "He hates crowds," Motoya finished with a shrug.

Mikaela laughed. "Doesn't surprise me."

* * *

"Who's Mikaela talking to?" Daichi asked, cocking his head.

Sugawara and Nishinoya both turned to look at their manager, who was talking with a volleyball player wearing an Itachiyama jersey. He was a bit taller than Mikaela (though not by much) and had light hair and broad shoulders. "I think that's Motoya Komori, the number one libero in Japan."

Nishinoya instantly stiffened up, turning to glare at him. "How do they know each other?" he asked.

"Probably that youth camp," Daichi guessed, shrugging.

Motoya and Mikaela both laughed, and she gestured with her hands as she talked. Sugawara sighed. "She made friends. I didn't think it was possible."

"She's a decent person when you get to know her, just a bit intimidating at first," the Karasuno captain said, watching as Motoya gestured to someone behind him and Mikaela laughed again. "It's good she's branching out a bit."

"Yeah," Sugawara echoed softly. "I guess it is."

* * *

A voice came over the speaker system, announcing the start of the opening ceremonies. "I should go and collect Sakusa," he joked, and they both laughed.

"Don't let him hear you say that," she teased.

"I guess I'll see you around," Motoya said, starting to back away. "If you get a chance, come watch our games!"

"Sure! See you in the finals!"

They both waved, and Mikaela turned in a circle, trying to find someone from her team. She frowned- where were they? Mikaela let herself be swept with the crowd to the entrance, trying to seek out the Karasuno colors but with no luck. _Where the hell is my team?_

She sighed in relief when she spotted Tsukishima's signature blond hair poking up above the crowd. Mikaela pushed past a few people and ducked around another. "Tsukishima!" she called, grabbing his elbow.

He turned. "What?"

"Just looking for the team," Mikaela replied, dropping his arm. She started walking next to him. "I got caught up in conversation," she added, shrugging. "A guy I met at the youth camp."

"A guy?"

"I was the only girl there, Tsukishima, the only people I ever talked to were guys." She rolled her eyes. "Have you heard of Motoya Komori? He's Japan's number one libero."

Was it just her, or did Tsukishima seem stiff? "No."

"Really? He's-"

"We're starting, idiot."

Mikaela zipped her lips shut and they made their way over to where the Karasuno sign was. The opening ceremonies seemed to fly by: Karasuno was introduced, along with almost one hundred other teams, the announcements dragged on, then they were ushered by Takeda and Coach Ukai towards the train station, which would take them to the gym they'd been assigned for practice. The trains, however, weren't running, but Takeda managed to come up with an emergency route that got them to their gym in almost the same amount of time.

Practice was more tense than Mikaela had ever seen it- which was saying a lot, because she'd seen a lot of highly suspenseful practices and practice matches. The boys seemed to be in good form, at least, even if they were extremely nervous. The trains were running again when they headed back to the stadium for their first game, and just when Mikaela thought everything was running smoothly, they arrived at the gym and Hinata screamed that he'd lost his shoes.

It turned out, Hinata's bag had been accidentally swapped at the station. Shimizu volunteered to go fetch Hinata's swapped bag from the train station as Mikaela calmed Hinata down, assuring him that he'd get his shoes before the match. Mikaela tried to step in for her, but Shimizu insisted; she knew what she was doing.

 _Wait._

"Kiyoko!" Mikaela said aloud, turning to her senpai just as she was getting ready to leave. "You won't make it back in time for the match!"

"No, I won't," Shimizu said simply, "so you'll have to be the manager for this game."

Her jaw dropped, and Mikaela had trouble forming sentences. "But- but you have to- it can't be _me,_ it's never been me... but you're the third year! And I- I- I can't! You-"

Shimizu placed her hands on Mikaela's shoulders. "Breathe, Kaisha-chan. It'll be fine. You'll do a great job."

"But this could be it," she protested quietly, her stomach sinking.

"It won't be," her senpai said firmly. "Because you'll win."

The finality in Shimizu's statement left no room for argument, so all Mikaela could bring herself to do was nod. Shimizu smiled at her and turned, letting go of her shoulders and heading for the gym's exit.

Mikaela bit her lip. _Please be fast._

Warm ups seemed to drag on and on, and Mikaela was more fidgety now than ever. The stadium was crowded, but not quite packed; luckily, it seemed that Tsubakihara Academy didn't have a large following, which meant that there wasn't going to be a ridiculous cheering section. Mikaela had spoken with Saeko about it, because Saeko was planning on bringing a large squad down but couldn't make the first day. Mikaela had insisted that they make it for the second day at a bare minimum, because playing against Inarizaki was going to be _hell._

Hinata bounced left and right with nothing on his feet, playing ball boy for the team as they warmed up. Mikaela's mind brushed over a couple warm up things that she could do with him that would be fine, but he seemed to enjoy being ball boy, so Mikaela left him be.

The whistle blew to end warm ups and Mikaela nearly snapped her pencil in half. _Where are you, Kiyoko?_

"Kaisha-chan!"

Mikaela turned around to look up into the stands, where the older Karasuno manager was standing at the railing, out of breath and clutching a bag in her hands. Without warning, she tossed it down, and Mikaela caught it. "Thank you!" she called up to her. Mikaela turned. "Shoyo!"

"What? Gah!" Hinata cried out as Mikaela tossed his bag at him. "Thanks!"

The middle blocker got his shoes on faster than she could report to the coach that he'd gotten his shoes. The team lined up at the edge of the court and bowed, and Mikaela felt her heart swell. She loved this team more than she'd ever thought herself capable of.

This was her first- and last- time standing on the court as Karasuno's official manager.

"Tobio's going to need to take a couple points of setting to get adjusted," Mikaela told Ukai as they went to sit down on the bench. The starting six players went out to the court. "It's one thing to warm up in a gym like this, but actually setting? That's different."

He nodded. "I figured. This is Tsubakihara's second time at nationals, with the first being just last year, so they're going to be accustomed to it."

Mikaela pursed her lips, wiping her palms on her pants. _Don't be nervous. Don't be nervous._

The game started badly; there was no way around it. Passes went long, Kageyama botched a set with Hinata, serves got messed up. Hinata managed to save a bad set by accidentally hitting it with his head, which earned a few laughs from the crowd. Mikaela glared heavily at her cousin. _Hurry it up and get your shit together._

Kageyama shivered, and turned to glare right back at her. He mumbled something that Mikaela couldn't catch from the noise in the stadium, and turned back to Hinata. "He'll be fine," Mikaela grumbled under her breath.

Ukai leaned towards her. "What do you think? Do I throw Yamaguchi in early?"

"Yes," she replied without hesitation, checking off another point for Tsubakihara on her sheet. "They're up by four. We need to-"

"Make up the difference," he finished, grabbing the card with Hinata's number on it. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

Yamaguchi subbed in. His perfect float serve went right to the other team's ace, which led to a messed up pass and a block point for Karasuno. Yamaguchi's next serve was a service ace- Mikaela had to pinch her leg to stop herself from screaming in excitement. Yamaguchi was out here, getting service aces, on national-level teams? She covered her mouth with her hand to suppress her smirk.

The pinch server was taken off next point, and Hinata went back in, the frantic look in his eyes telling Mikaela that if he didn't hit a spike soon he'd go nuts. Mikaela grinned to herself as Kageyama's set perfectly put the volleyball right under Hinata's palm, and the short middle blocker nailed the quick set. The crowd hushed in surprise, and Hinata pumped his fist in elation.

The game seemed to zoom by from there. Karasuno was starting to catch up, but every time Mikaela thought they were going to tie it up, Tsubakihara pulled slightly ahead. It was infuriating, actually; it was clear that Karasuno was the superior team, even with an ace as strong as Tsubakihara's.

They were within one point when the opposing team's ace punched the ball through, making the crowd roar and putting them up 17 to 15. "Bet you a hundred yen that Kageyama's sending the next one to Asahi," Mikaela said to Ukai, knowing exactly how her cousin's mind worked.

Ukai raised an eyebrow. "I'll take that bet. He's got four eligible hitters."

Kageyama sent the ball to Asahi to make the score 16 to 17, and Ukai grumbled something under his breath as Mikaela pumped a fist to herself.

The rallies continued, and then Hinata went up to serve. Karasuno was only one point behind, at 17 to 18, but Yamaguchi had been subbed in already in this set, so Ukai couldn't send him in as a pinch server. Hinata glanced towards the bench, and he locked eyes with Mikaela: it was time.

"He's going to try it," she whispered to herself. She clenched her fists against her track pants. This was it.

A month of practice on a serve that Mikaela had actually never seen done in person.

 _Please work, please work, please!-_

Hinata set himself up so that he was standing sideways, with his body facing towards the bench and his arm held out in front of him, the ball resting in his palm. Karasuno wasn't fazed, but the other team seemed confused; this wasn't something they had seen before. Granted, this wasn't even something that Mikaela had seen done before, besides in her practices with Hinata.

 _"Hinata Shoyo seems to be setting up for... a sideways serve?"_ she heard the announcers say, puzzled. The whistle blew, and Hinata pulled his arm back to swing.

Mikaela grabbed the end of her long ponytail and tugged, trying to relieve some of her anxiety. The serve she had taught Hinata was a side-arm serve, in between an underarm or an overhand serve. It wouldn't have as much downward momentum as an overhand, and not as much height as an overhand (if you were going for a ceiling serve or something similar) so it was typically disregarded.

However, what Mikaela had taught Hinata was called a knuckle serve.

(At least, that's what she called it.)

Instead of just striking the volleyball, the key was to hit it with your knuckles. The curve and spin of the ball that resulted from this was wickedly unpredictable and made for a great shit-disturber on the other side of the court. That was, if Hinata could pull it off. Brushing his knuckles against it would cause it to swerve- literally, Hinata would have next to no choice where it went- so landing out of bounds was almost as likely as landing in bounds. It was similar to a jump floater in that sense, but instead of dipping upwards or downwards, the ball tended to go left and right.

Mikaela had never been one for religion, but she found herself praying as the middle blocker readied himself.

Hinata swung, striking the ball with his knuckles and his fist, and the ball careened over the net with a wild spin that sent it spinning away from the receiver's arms. It struck his shoulder and tumbled out of bounds, making it a point for Karasuno.

"Yes!" Mikaela screamed, jumping up out of her chair. Hinata looked like he might faint. "Shoyo! You did it!"

"My first service ace!" Hinata cried out, his eyes wider than saucers. The team surrounded him to congratulate him on the great serve, and Hinata looked like he had died and gone to heaven.

 _"I don't recognize that type of serve,"_ one of the announcers was saying, and Mikaela barely caught his words. _"What did Hinata Shoyo just do?"_

 _"That seemed to be a sidearm serve of sorts,"_ the other announcer replied, sounding equally confused. _"It seemed to swerve off of its course. I've never seen that kind of serve before."_

"Kaisha!" The manager made eye contact with the middle blocker, who was smiling so hard it looked like his face hurt. "Thank you!"

She flashed him a thumbs up and sat herself back down, flushing.

"Well done," Ukai said quietly.

The rest of the match tipped into their favour. Hinata used the knuckle serve one more time, without too much spin, but the team still got the point after a ridiculously long rally. The next rally went just as long, and once again tipped in Karasuno's favor. Karasuno was up 20 to 18, and the point gap was never closed. They won the first set, 25 to 22, and then the second set, 25 to 23.

Mikaela was quick to congratulate the whole team, but after the team bowed and dispersed, Hinata jumped and tackled her in a hug, nearly knocking her to the ground. She wheezed. "Sh- Shoyo!"

Hinata didn't let her go. He clung onto her like a koala, and Mikaela hugged him as tightly as she could. Eventually, he pulled back from her, throwing his hands out in excitement. "I got," he said breathlessly, forcing all of the words out in a hurry, "my first service ace. Ever. And it's all thanks to you."

"It was all you, Shoyo," she said with a laugh. "You-"

"No, no, Kai!" he shook his head frantically. "I never would've been able to do that without you!"

Embarrassingly, Mikaela felt tears well up in her eyes. She grabbed him in a hug again. "Thanks, Sho," she mumbled into his shoulder before she let him go, blinking rapidly. Hinata beamed like the sun and bounded off. _Don't cry, idiot. Don't cry-_

Someone nudged her shoulder. "You gonna be okay there, your Highness?" Tsukishima said sarcastically.

She huffed, wiping her eyes. "Obviously."

"Then get it together, moron."

"I'm emotional, you idiot."

"I've noticed."

"Oh, go away." Mikaela sighed happily as the Karasuno team collectively moved through the stands, heading to the court where Nekoma was playing. "Congratulations, that was a well played game."

Tsukishima grunted in acknowledgement. "Yeah, sure."

"It was, you dork, and you know it." Mikaela bit her lip. "Uh, Tsukishima, can I talk to you?"

"You are," he said pointedly.

She rolled her eyes. "I mean, later."

"You'll have to set up an appointment with my secretary."

Mikaela's jaw dropped at how annoying his joke was. "Seriously? I can't even talk to one of my best friends without having to book some time?" His smirk grew, and Mikaela scowled. "Oh, I hate you."

"I can live with that."

The team settled down in the stands to watch Nekoma's game, which seemed to be going well for the cats so far. The second set was almost closed up in Nekoma's favor, and from the sound of it, they had won the first set. Mikaela smirked to herself as Nekoma kept pulling off fantastic saves, and the other team's ace looked like he was going to collapse from exhaustion.

Daichi clapped his hands to get their attention, then explained they had a bit of free time if they wanted to shop or watch another match. Mikaela turned to Tsukishima, about to ask what he was going to do, but he pulled out a mask and tucked it over his eyes, pulling up his jacket to cover his mouth and sinking into his seat. "You gonna nap?" she asked with a laugh.

"Go away," came the muffled reply, and Mikaela shook her head with a laugh.

"Kaela!" Yamaguchi tapped her on the shoulder, and Mikaela turned to face him. "Hinata and I are going to check out the shop. You wanna come?"

"Sure," she agreed, risking one last glance at Tsukishima before standing up.

"C'mon, Kaisha!" Hinata cheered, bouncing up and down in his spot. "I wanna get one of their ace shirts!"

She huffed out a laugh and followed them through the throng of people. Hinata was surprisingly nimble (it shouldn't have been that surprising, now that she thought about it) and zipped through the crowd easily. Mikaela and Yamaguchi had a bit of a harder time keeping up with him. When they got to the stand that was set up, Hinata didn't even hesitate: he pointed at the shirt he'd seen Bokuto wearing during a practice.

"Is that the one that Bokuto was wearing?" Yamaguchi asked, and Hinata nodded.

"Yep! He said he got it at nationals so I knew I had to get one too!"

"I think Fukurodani's playing on the court right there," Mikaela mused, pointing her hand to the nearby court. Hinata wasted no time bounding away from the shop and towards the court. After a shared shrug with Yamaguchi, Mikaela and the pinch server followed him.

They ended up watching half of the first set and the second set of Fukurodani's game (Mikaela texted Daichi just so he knew where they were) and Fukuordani won both. Bokuto seemed to be in top form, and the other team couldn't contain him properly.

"Fukurodani's really good," Yamaguchi said as they left their post and started heading back in the direction of the shop.

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah, they've got a really solid foundation."

"And Bokuto-san!" Hinata chirped, and they all laughed.

"You gonna get anything?" she asked Yamaguchi, nodding her head towards the stand.

He grinned, biting his lip. "Yeah, I think so! It'll be a great souvenir. But I don't know which one to get." He turned towards Hinata. "Hinata, which one should I get?"

But the middle blocker wasn't listening. He had locked eyes with someone ordering something from the stand- a short boy with spiky white hair and wide eyes, who was staring right back at him. Mikaela recognized him- Hoshiumi Korai, rumored in magazines to be the next Little Giant. He'd been at the youth camp along with Kageyama, but Mikaela had never talked to or interacted with him. He was a formidable player.

"What're you doing?" Yamaguchi hissed into Hinata's ear. "Do you know him?"

"Nope," Hinata said, refusing to break eye contact. Hoshiumi narrowed his eyes.

"Hoshiumi Korai, right?" Mikaela asked, finding it hard to be intimidated by someone who was two inches shorter than she was.

He turned to her, and his eyes widened with recognition. "Yeah. You're the girl from the camp, right? The one who hit Miya Atsumu?"

Mikaela sighed- that's all she was going to remembered as for the rest of her life, apparently. "The one and only," she said tiredly, shrugging. "How'd your first game go?"

"Haven't had it yet," Hoshiumi replied, turning back to look at Hinata. "Say, how tall are you?"

The manager sighed to herself as the boys started competing over height and running vertical. Her eyes drifted and landed on Kageyama, who was walking towards them with a bag on his arm. "Got a shirt?" she asked him as he came closer.

Kageyama nodded, holding up the bag. "Yep. Hey, Hoshiumi-san."

The wing spiker turned to Kageyama. "Yo, Kageyama. How'd the game go?"

"We won."

"Ah, congrats." He glanced from Mikaela to Kageyama. "People at camp mentioned that you're twins?"

"Cousins," they said in unison.

Hoshiumi raised his eyebrows. "Really? I-"

"Korai-kun, what're you doing? The game before ours is almost over." Mikaela turned to see a very tall player in a Kamomedai uniform- he was as tall as Tsukishima, at least- and he gestured to Hoshiumi. "C'mon."

"Fine." He turned back to Kageyama. "See ya, Kageyama." After one last glare at Hinata, he turned to his teammate and jogged after him, a shopping bag swinging on his arm. Mikaela watched him retreat through narrowed eyes.

"Well, he's pleasant," she grumbled under her breath, jamming her hands into her pockets.

"He's good," Kageyama said.

 _If Kageyama thinks so, then he really is._ Mikaela had only seen a few clips and videos of him; Hoshiumi apparently hated being interviewed so she never caught much information from him. She'd ruled him as a strong contender for the youth camp after only a few videos. It was obvious that he was in a league of his own.

They ended up watching the Kamomedai game, in which Hoshiumi was essentially a one man army. The video recaps didn't do him justice; he was good at _everything._ He spiked, tipped, and served with as much power as Asahi, blocked as well as Tsukishima, and tooled any block in front of him with no difficulty. His receives were on par with Daichi's, and he even managed to put up an emergency set that was pretty good.

 _I hope he gets eliminated before we have to play him,_ Mikaela thought to herself as Hoshiumi got another service ace.

A chill down her spine told her that they wouldn't be that lucky.

* * *

With the majority of the games done for the day, Karasuno headed back to their hotel. Mikaela nearly tripped over her own feet as she got off the bus, feeling drained. She hadn't even played today- she had no right to be as tired as she felt.

"Hey, check that out," she heard Daichi say. He pointed to the luxurious hotel beside their tiny motel that Mikaela had originally hoped they were staying in.

"The Niiyama girls' team is in the hotel next door," Asahi realized.

Sugawara pouted. "Talk about preferential treatment," he said, but Mikaela barely heard him. She was standing, frozen in place, staring as the Niiyama girls strolled off of their bus and headed towards the front door. They were a seeded team, which meant they didn't have to play today (but they had to be there for the opening ceremonies) so they were probably just getting back from practice.

The Niiyama captain looked over, and Mikaela immediately ducked behind Kageyama and started heading to the door of their hotel.

"Mikaela?"

She groaned, stifling a curse. _Kinomi. Of course._

Mikaela turned towards the Niiyama team, and almost collapsed on the spot; Kinomi's exclamation had been enough to make them all pause and stare at the Karasuno team. Namely, her. Mikaela glared at the blonde, who glared right back at her in retaliation. "Hi," she said awkwardly, breaking eye contact with Kinomi only to survey the rest of the team.

"So the rumors were true," someone said aloud, and Mikaela's eyes drifted to who she recognized as Niiyama's vice captain. "You really are at Karasuno."

"Was it really you in that video?" another one asked. Mikaela felt her throat close, but she nodded. "Damn."

The captain of the Niiyama team turned to face Mikaela, drawing herself up to her full height, and the rest of the girls' team seemed to immediately stiffened up. Mikaela bit her lip. "Let's go, ladies," she said with an air of finality. "We have no business speaking with someone who doesn't feel the need to speak with us."

Something in her chest sank. She felt Kageyama's hand come to rest on her shoulder, but her eyes were too busy trailing after the team she should've been on as they turned away from Karasuno and headed towards the front door of their hotel.

There were so many things she wanted to say, but the words never made it out of her mouth. She couldn't bring herself to say anything.

Mikaela watched until the very last Niiyama girl had retreated into the building, then turned and marched into their own motel, not sure whether she was pissed off or upset. Maybe both. Maybe neither.

Suddenly, she was very happy she wasn't going to Niiyama.

* * *

 **I tried to gloss over some key points of the Tsubakihara match because I'd like new readers / anime watchers to be able to experience some of it for themselves. :) The Hinata serve bit was obviously my own thing, but there's a lot of little character development things in that match that I really like.**

 **No confession yet (sorry) but next chapter? Maybe... :D**

 **hannymae:** Apparently my timing is better than I thought? It completely slipped my mind that I posted the last chapter on/around New Year's and that a majority of the chapter was a New Year's thing. Huh. BRUH I'm having so much trouble trying to figure out how to write the confession and it's set for NEXT CHAPTER so I better figure this out fast. Anyways thank you for your review! It's always lovely to hear from you! :)

 **bbymojo:** Thank you so much! Thank you for your review! :D

 **SupMyDudez:** It'd be so much easier to write if Tsukishima was the one to confess but unfortunately he's difficult XD Thank you for your review! :)

 **Padgent:** Sorry it's not this chapter, but hopefully next chapter ;) And if you'll like Miya Atsumu, you'll DEFINITELY like the next chapter... Thank you for your review! :D

 **NaomiM200:** Totally agree with the Tsukishima analogy; he's a pain in the ass to write. So much so that I never considered shipping Mikaela with anyone in the start, but you know what, the challenge has been fun so far. Yes, I agree! The senpais are so underrated and I'm going to try my best to work them into future chapters a bit more. Thank you kindly for your wonderful review! :)

 **FyreDraagyn12:** Thank you so much! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Monxu Aki:** Well, here's Tsubakihara (and the announcers!) reacting to Hinata's psychotic serve- hopefully showing it in the Nekoma match will create a fun reaction too XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Mads-Chikistorm:** You'll have to see next chapter! Thank you so much and thank you for your review! :D

 **BlueSeraphos:** You. Make. Me. So. Happy! Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm so glad you're enjoying this! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **bellamario:** I know, it's hard for me to let her go from her role after how I've developed it- I LOVE how she's the team's little stalker T^T But as they say, the characters write themselves, and Mikaela's much too volleyball obsessed to only be a manager, unfortunately. Thank you for your review! :D

 **Averi-nova:** Your words make me so happy! I love hearing reviews from people that normally don't like OC fics so your praise means so much! Believe me, I have a scene planned for Tsuki-Mika-Atsumu, and it's going to be so fun to write! XD I didn't know I needed good luck kisses between matches until you mentioned it and now I can't stop thinking about it. Thank you so so much for your wonderful review! :)

 **WarriorsErin:** Wow. Your review was such a wonderful story to read and I'm so glad I helped inspire you to start such a wonderful anime! I very much enjoyed your half-insane screeching, as you put it! I hope the anime stays true to the manga when it comes out (I'm sure it will!) and I'm so pumped for the 20th! Thank you so much for your story and your kind words, and thank you for your review! :D

 **MoonlightFox16:** Next chapter ;) You'll have to see! Thank you so much! :)

 **Sayori1412:** Don't worry, I don't plan on making any misunderstandings- just a bunch of silly fluff and other fun stuff. Next chapter! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kitty:** Confession soon ;) Happy new year to you as well, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Tribble. Chan:** Happy new year to you too! Bruh I've got this whole Inarizaki team interaction planned out, it was so much fun to think about so I wrote it in advance XD Hoshiumi wasn't there partly because yes, I forgot him, but partly because I was introducing a lot of new characters and I wasn't sure how to go about including them all. There were some readers who had chosen to follow the story even if it was past the anime, so I was trying to make it as simple as possible, and Hoshiumi didn't really have a place there. Tips?! From moi?! Honestly, it's all about staying true to your character. You have to remember what they value and what their goals are, and take their personality traits that you want them to have and apply them to those goals. It helps a bunch to map it out. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **jily shiper:** I completely forgot about that, the Nishinoya hair thing happened at one of the first camps before Mikaela came to Karasuno XD I'll definitely have to put that in somewhere, thanks for the idea! Thanks for the review too! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Thank you! That means a lot to me! :) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Y'all,,, I ain't ready for this confession,,,,, like what the heck! This was never in my original story line ( well then again neither was Tsukishima in general so eff you too Tsukki ) so we'll see how this goes... FRICK**

 **Also what the heck. 409 follows. Why are you all so nice to me.**

 **Much love for you all! You make my heart swell :)**


	48. The Confession

**Thank you so much to R7C2B2, Guest, Tribble. chan, Averi-nova, Sayori1412, Shadow Wolf 15846, Swaggishima, Kitty, bbymojo, Yamamoto, slyKat28, RainbowMaze, hannymae, Anne Nonimus, PalaGod, Tigereye1314, calebas14, lionmeow, MissLitago, KirikaAndo, Natasha Strong, Otaku0040, Paige McCarthy, Ada-cholo, vixen122, SenbiNeko, Trafalgar D. Water Rena, Purrihasgotalongusername, elle the reader, GoldenWingedAngel, TheHummingSwordsman, ashlyn6521, icecreamcake79, Wargetter, and xxxCupcakeQueenxxx for your support!**

* * *

When Ukai announced that Inarizaki was their next opponent, Mikaela pumped her fist and hissed under her breath, evidently pleased. The team seemed to regard her questionably before she could explain herself.

"If you don't completely and totally _decimate_ Inarizaki," she had announced, punching her fist into her palm, "I'll have to punch Miya Atsumu myself."

"And that's a lot of paperwork," Ukai has said quickly as he jumped in, shooting her a fleeting glare.

"It'd be funny," Tanaka had added, and Suga had slapped his shoulder.

They spent an hour dissecting Inarizaki's play style. Mikaela threw everything she had at them (which was more than she'd ever had on any team, ever) and went through each player, taking extra time to insist that Miya Atsumu was a _jerk_ (Ukai told her to remain 'unbiased') and talking the team through their play style and what to watch out for.

The team started winding down and getting set up to go to sleep. Mikaela made post on the couch in their main common area, notepad on her lap and her laptop propped up on a pillow. She had headphones plugged in, and she was listening to one of Inarizaki's Inter High matches. Mikaela scowled to herself as Miya got a service ace.

"You gonna go to bed soon?" Kageyama asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.

Mikaela shrugged, her eyes trained on the screen. "Maybe."

"Kaisha."

"Eventually." Kageyama raised his eyebrows at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Kags, I'm no use to you during the game. I'm only good for prepping you guys. So if I can get even one more bit, it's worth staying up."

Her cousin frowned. "Of course you're important during the game, dumbass."

"Kags, I literally stand and watch."

"Yeah, but you glare occasionally and it whips us into shape."

The cousins looked up to see Daichi, who had his arms crossed. "Hey, Captain," Mikaela said as casually as she could, temporarily pausing the game. "I do?"

"Yep. And if you're not in your room in the next half hour, I will throw you in there personally."

Mikaela raised her eyebrows. "Challenge accepted."

"It wasn't a..." Daichi huffed, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Suga, help. Mikaela's being difficult."

"What now?" the vice captain asked, sliding up next to Daichi and smiling pleasantly at the first years.

"Wants to stay up watching videos."

"Unless you plan to make me move by force, Suga-senpai, I'm afraid that I'll be staying firmly rooted in this spot," Mikaela said, cocking her head and gesturing to the screen. "Inarizaki won't wait."

Suga frowned. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

"Five hours."

"Kai," Kageyama said with a sigh, shaking his head.

"What? That's a good amount."

"Mikaela," Sugawara said carefully, his voice dipping from pleasant to deceptively suspicious, "what's the least amount of sleep you've gotten in a night from researching a team?"

She shrugged. "Who said I have to sleep?"

There was a collective sigh from the group. "If you're not in bed in fifteen minutes, I'll come get you," Kageyama said firmly.

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Go to bed. You're worse than I am without sleep."

"Mikaela," the vice captain said, leaning towards her with a smile on his face. "Listen closely. If you are not in bed and fast asleep in about, oh, let's say fifteen minutes..." his smile switched from pleasant to sinister like the flick of a switch. "I _will_ inform Tsukishima of whatever feelings you've been harboring," Sugawara threatened menacingly, smiling, "and I may, perhaps, _exaggerate_ a bit."

Her jaw dropped. "How did you-"

He tapped the side of his head. "I just do. So?"

"I'll be in bed in fifteen," Mikaela affirmed, mildly terrified of their vice captain.

Sugawara straightened up, beaming to himself. Daichi shook his head. "You're terrifying," he muttered under his breath. The captains waved and bid good night to them before heading towards the boys' room.

"So, fifteen minutes?" Kageyama confirmed, and Mikaela sighed in assent. "Sugawara-senpai is..."

"Terrifying," Mikaela grumbled under her breath. "Yeah, I'll sleep."

He sighed, squeezing her hand. "Alright. Sleep well."

"You too."

Kageyama vanished into the guys' room, followed closely by Tanaka and Ennoshita, who were bantering about something. Shimizu had already taken off for their room, as had the coaches, which just left Mikaela alone in the common area. She sighed to herself- she'd half hoped that Tsukishima would've said good night.

 _One more game,_ she thought with a sigh. _Then, I'll sleep._

One more game turned into two, and then three, and suddenly half an hour had passed and Mikaela was still skimming. She yawned, her fatigue starting to catch up to her, and clicked on another video. _If I'm going to stay up, I've got find something. Anything, at least..._

"You're still up?"

Mikaela jerked her head up, ready to be caught by Sugawara, and nearly laughed when she saw Tsukishima. "Yep. You too, apparently."

"I thought I heard Suga-san threatening you," the blond said, trudging towards the kitchen. His glasses were lodged sideways on his face, like he'd rolled out of bed and jammed them on as an afterthought. He was in a t-shirt and sweatpants, but Mikaela still felt butterflies in her stomach. "Something about fifteen minutes?"

 _I wouldn't be surprised if Sugawara sent him in here._ Mikaela shook her head. "I don't listen well."

"You don't need to state the obvious, dumbass." Tsukishima changed directions, walking towards her, and Mikaela stiffened. He rested his hand on the top of her laptop, then pushed it shut. "Go to bed."

Mikaela scowled, taking out her earbuds. "Hypocrite."

"I'm getting water, dumbass."

"Grab me one too, then."

"Get it yourself, you're not useless."

"Asshole." Mikaela hauled herself up from the couch, putting her laptop on the table, and stumbled towards the kitchen. She grabbed her own glass and filled it up after Tsukishima filled his. She hadn't even realized how thirsty she was. Tsukishima shifted around the counter to give her room, standing at the far side. Mikaela straightened up.

This was it. This could be her chance. No one around, just her and Tsukishima, and if it didn't work, she could retreat to her room.

"Hey, Tsukishima," she said carefully.

"Now what?"

"I'm going to use my last question."

Tsukishima's eyebrows flew to the top of his forehead. "Really? Sure."

"And you have to answer honestly," Mikaela said quickly, trying to summon the courage to continue this conversation.

"I know, dumbass."

"You sure?"

He rolled his eyes. "Just ask your stupid question."

"It's not stupid," Mikaela muttered, turning away and crossing her arms. Part of her was stalling, hoping someone or something would interrupt them and that way she wouldn't have to say anything, but the other part of her was trying to force the words out of her throat.

Tsukishima shrugged, adjusting his glasses. "Is it what's-your-favourite-colour stupid or what's-the-meaning-of-life stupid?"

Mikaela scoffed, taking a sip from her glass. "Very funny."

"It's an honest question."

"So you'll be honest?"

"Wasn't that the point of this ridiculous game?"

She laughed. "You have to admit, you've enjoyed it."

Tsukishima huffed, bringing his glass to his lips. "I've enjoyed helping you with simple math problems because you're too dumb to figure it out on your own and you have to use one of your _questions_ to force the answer out of me?"

Mikaela raised her eyebrows, taking another sip of water.

"Fine. Sort of," he admitted grudgingly, turning his head. Mikaela smirked to herself. He caught her look and smirked back at her. "Don't get all cocky, your Highness."

"Hey, the game was my idea," she pointed out.

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. So what was your question?"

Mikaela's mouth felt dry. The words were right there on her tongue, _do you like me?_ But should she word it differently? What if he gave an ambiguous response and she was left with no questions? He could just go back to bed. If she asked, would he even answer? Maybe he'd just ignore her. Or he'd laugh at her. Honestly, she didn't know which one was worse. What if he...

"My question," Mikaela said finally, "is why haven't you confessed to me yet?"

Whatever Tsukishima had been expecting, it certainly wasn't that. He choked on his water, bringing the glass down to the table and giving her the most dumbfounded look she'd ever seen from him. "Excuse me?" he said slowly, his voice void of his usual snark.

"You're excused," she replied, taking another sip.

His jaw slipped open, and just when Mikaela thought she'd caught him stone cold, he collected himself. "I think that's the question I should be asking you," Tsukishima said carefully, crossing his arms and leaning onto the counter. "Considering how obvious it is."

"Well, if it's obvious, then I shouldn't need to confess, now should I?" Mikaela mused.

"See, now you're just making this unnecessarily difficult."

"That's my job."

"Was that your backwards way of confessing?" Tsukishima asked, his fingers tapping lightly against the counter.

"I should be asking you the same thing," she taunted, a smirk growing on her face.

The middle blocker stood up straight, draining the rest of his glass of water and plunking it down on the counter. "You're annoying," he announced, narrowing his eyes at her. "And the most stubborn person I know."

Mikaela laughed, her cheeks flushing pink. "Thank you?"

He stepped around the island counter so that he was on the same side as her. Tsukishima leaned her elbow onto the counter and adjusted his glasses with his other hand, smirking. He was only a few feet from her. "Your turn."

She straightened up, setting her glass down on the counter. "My turn? For what?"

"I did two, so technically, you have to do two." Mikaela shot him a confused look, and he groaned. "And here I thought you were smart. That's three now."

Mikaela had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing. Of _course_ Tsukishima had the most backwards possible way to say 'nice things' about her, and now expected her to do the same; he would only be so vulnerable.

She cleared her throat. Maybe being a bit more honest and vulnerable would encourage him to open up too. "Three things," she repeated, and Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "You're the single most infuriating person I've met."

"Even over Miya Atsumu?"

She paused to consider that. "Well, I'd say he's worse, but he's been easier to deal with. He's not the one I..."

 _...have a crush on._

"He's not the one you what?" Tsukishima teased, leaning forwards. "Do continue."

Mikaela flamed red and shook her head frantically. "That's one. Two more, right? Well, you're also ridiculously smart, so I'll give you that." She turned away when she noticed he was grinning at her. "Stop laughing at me," she protested weakly.

"You're just too easy to make fun of," he said, smirking, "your Highness."

"Oh, I hate you," she said with a scowl, shifting. They were only a foot apart now.

Tsukishima's shit-eating grin widened. "If that botched confession is anything to go off of, I'm pretty sure you don't."

Mikaela could've melted. From embarrassment or relief, she didn't know which. "So you..." she rubbed the back of her head with her free hand, refusing to meet his eyes. "Yeah. Uh, you got that?"

"No, you'll have to say the whole thing."

She glared at him and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You want chocolates now too, idiot?"

"Wouldn't hurt," Tsukishima teased.

"Fine! Fine." Mikaela steeled herself and shut her eyes, not wanting to see his reaction- the fact he was only a foot away from her didn't help either, _since when was he so close-_ and she sighed. "Tsukishima, you're one of the most annoying people I know, and sometimes I hate you more than I hate math, which is saying a lot, but..." she trailed off. "You've been there for me when I didn't expect you to, you've shown more kindness to me than I thought you were capable of, and you're... you're crazy. And you're amazing. And you care in such a subtle and sweet way and honestly, you're one of the reasons I'm staying at Karasuno."

She kept her eyes shut. "I don't know how long I've liked you for, but it's been a while- at least since the Shiratorizawa match- and if you don't accept my feelings, that's totally fine," Mikaela finished, her voice near cracking. "I never expected you to. But this has been eating away at me and if I never told you I was going to explode. So I..." she exhaled. "I like you more than I should."

A second of silence passed.

Then a second.

When the fifth second of excruciating silence passed, Mikaela couldn't take it anymore. "Tsukishima?" she whispered, keeping her eyes glued shut. She didn't want to see the look on his face, see the possibilities flying through his head and having to decipher them because holy _shit_ what if Yamaguchi was wrong and he didn't actually like her-

"Question."

Mikaela opened her eyes. "Like, a _question_ question?"

He nodded.

"Well, don't let me stop you."

His voice dropped to nearly a whisper, and Mikaela felt goosebumps crawl across her skin. He took her hand, and her heart leaped in her chest, and she was trying to stop herself from getting her hopes up but it was hard because his hands were cold but so nice and he was tracing circles on the backs of her hands with his thumbs and...

"Mikaela," Tsukishima said softly, so quietly she nearly missed it, "can I kiss you?"

She responded by pulling him down to her height.

In a way, it was everything the books said it would be but it also wasn't. It was warm and it was safe, and it was also timid and hesitant, but Mikaela didn't care because it was _perfect._ He kissed her softly, fitting their lips together like they'd done this one hundred times before, and she twisted her hands around the front of his jacket. His hands had moved to cup her face, and his thumb was tracing her jawline.

Tsukishima pulled back after a minute (or maybe five? Or an hour? Who knows) and Mikaela tipped her forehead against his, her head reeling. Her lips tingled. Before she even knew what she was doing, she leaned back in and kissed him again, and Tsukishima was more than happy to oblige. Their second kiss wasn't as slow but it wasn't fast, and it still held all the care of their first.

Mikaela pulled away, her breathing heavy, and finally met Tsukishima's eyes. He was staring at her, his lips pursed, but he was fighting a smile. Mikaela couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face, and she squeezed his hands.

"Daichi, if they're making out right now, you owe me one thousand yen."

 _"Suga, that was too loud, be quiet!"_

"Oh my god," Mikaela said quietly, letting go of Tsukishima's hands.

The blond was flushed bright red, and it was clear that he was as surprised as she was. "The whole time," he echoed quietly, and Mikaela caught his meaning: they'd been listening for a while. How many of them? That was Daichi and Suga, for sure.

She hid her smile in her hand, trying to fight her laugh. They'd been _listening._ Of course they had.

Tsukishima pressed a finger to his lips and grinned at her. They both stalked towards the door to the boys' room, listening for any noise. "Mikaela," Tsukishima said, slightly louder than before, "isn't it a bit too soon to be taking your shirt off?"

Mikaela _choked._

"What did he just say?!"

 _"I'm going to kill him-"_

"Kageyama, no!"

 _"Shh!"_

"Gee, Tsukishima," Mikaela said loudly, catching on, "I didn't know you had a tattoo on your ass."

 _"Holy shit!"_

 _"Oh my god-"_

"Oh, Tsukishima, you're _dead-"_

"Kageyama, wait-"

"What's going on in there?!"

"What's his tattoo?"

Tsukishima swung open the door, and Mikaela saw not one, not two, but all eleven remaining members of the Karasuno volleyball team huddled in front of them, piled up on top of each other in an effort to get as close as possible to the door. Frankly, Mikaela was just surprised she hadn't heard them sooner.

There was a heartbeat of silence, then Nishinoya, from the bottom of the heap of players, asked, "Tsukishima, can I see your tattoo?"

A beat.

"I'm going to kill each and every last one of you," Mikaela threatened, a fiercely cold aura building up around her, "if you don't go to bed right. Now."

That was all it took for the team to scramble up from their large pile up and take off for their mats, tucking themselves into blankets like they'd never been up. "You're all dead," Tsukishima grumbled under his breath, hand tightening around the door knob and he followed the last of them into the room. He glanced at Mikaela one last time, offering her a rare smile, and closed the door behind him.

The last thing Mikaela heard was Sugawara's smug, "pay up, suckers," before she went back to her room.

She slept with a weight off of her shoulders and a smile on her face.

* * *

Mikaela woke up to several texts on her phone, and nearly had a panic attack as she flashed back to the whole leg-throwing incident. She scrambled to her phone and opened it, blinking rapidly as she tried to adjust to the brightness of the screen.

 ** _Sugawara Koushi (22:58):_** _You're welcome. ;)_

 ** _Sawamura Daichi (22:58):_** _I'd congratulate you, but you cost me one thousand yen._

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (23:01):_** _I TOLD YOU_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (23:01):_** _DUMBASS_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (23:02):_** _I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU_

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (23:02):_** _As long as you're happy._

It took Mikaela a minute to register what they were talking about, but it hit her almost immediately. She squealed to herself, hugging her phone to her chest. It wasn't a dream. She'd confessed, and he liked her too. They kissed. Holy shit, they _kissed._

She beamed to herself and shot Tsukishima a quick text.

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (6:35):_** _Hope the team didn't harass you too much last night._

The reply came in half an hour later, and Mikaela almost laughed out loud.

 _ **Tsukishima Kei (7:07):**_ _Thanks a lot._

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (7:08):_** _Sorry. Not really._

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (7:09):_** _Would do it again in a heartbeat._

 ** _Tsukishima Kei (7:09):_** _At the expense of my humiliation? Of course you would._

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (7:10):_** _Well, if you don't want to, that's fine_

 ** _Tsukishima Kei (7:10):_** _I never said that._

They kept the morning relatively low-key. Mikaela was in a fantastic mood, and she couldn't help herself from taking Tsukishima's hand under the table while they were eating breakfast and squeezing it briefly before letting go. The faint smirk on his face afterwards told her that he didn't really mind.

The team, kindly enough, stayed focused on the upcoming game. Besides a quick, knowing look from Sugawara and a brief hug from Yamaguchi was all she needed to know that the boys were fully informed and happy for her.

The trip to the stadium was quick and tense. Mikaela's adrenaline high from the previous night was wearing off and giving way for anxiety. They were about to face Inarizaki, the number two in the tournament; as much as Mikaela hated to say it, they were _good._ Like, really good. Unfairly good. No matter how much Mikaela hunted and how much information she got, there was only so much they could do.

Karasuno got off the bus, and Mikaela fell into step next to Tsukishima. "Hey," she chirped, smiling at him. "How'd you sleep?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You're in a good mood."

"I guess so." Mikaela shrugged. "I've got a good feeling about this. Besides, I-"

"Excuse me? Are you Mikaela Kaisha?"

Mikaela was prepared for some random girl that had stumbled across the video online and had recognized her, and was now calling her out in front of the team on their way into the tournament. She sighed, preparing herself, and turned around. "Yeah, what-"

She paused.

This wasn't just some random high school kid, this was a reporter, who was carrying a microphone in her hand and had a video camera man following her around. The guy holding the video camera was squinting into the lens, which was trained on her face. The lady was standing far enough back to give her space, and was holding out the microphone to her.

"Wow," was all Mikaela could manage, worried she'd accidentally curse.

The lady smiled. "Don't worry, we're not rolling just yet. Can I ask you a few questions? I'll only take a few minutes of your time."

"That's Machino!" she heard Yamaguchi hiss from behind her, probably to Tsukishima. "She's famous!"

"Damn," she heard someone else mumble.

Mikaela didn't know what to say. She turned around to look at Daichi and Sugawara, who were both looking between Mikaela and the reporter. "You're the lady who talked to me yesterday," Daichi said, and Machino smiled.

"I interview a lot of people, but yes, I remember talking to the Karasuno captain." She pushed her hair back over her shoulder. "Now, we don't have all day, so we can postpone this if you'd like, but I think this is a prime time for a quick interview with the internet sensation over here."

She looked to Daichi again, and he shrugged. "She's a good one, Mikaela," he said carefully, but Mikaela caught on to the hidden message behind his words. She wasn't going to be annoying and press her unnecessarily- hopefully. "Take a few minutes."

"Alright," Mikaela agreed, turning back to the reporter. "As long as it's only a few minutes."

"Wonderful. Give me one second." Machino turned to her camera man and started whispering instructions into his ear, gesturing to the building behind her, and Mikaela turned to look over her shoulder and shot a helpless glance at Kageyama. He shrugged uselessly. She turned to Tsukishima, and he smirked at her. She scowled.

 _Alright. I can do this._ "You guys go warm up, I'll be there soon," she promised, waving them off. "You can watch it later."

The Karasuno team waved. Ukai reminded her what court they were on, eyed the reporter warily, and then proceeded with the rest of the team. Mikaela watched them go, her eyes lingering on Tsukishima, then turned back to the camera. "Okay, I'm all good. What's this about?"

Machino smiled. "Nothing personal, don't worry. Just your thoughts about the viral video, your thoughts on volleyball, and maybe a bit of insight into the tournament."

Mikaela exhaled slowly. _This won't be so bad._ "Okay. Cool."

"Alright. We're rolling in three, two..." she turned to face the camera. Thankfully, the camera was only on Machino with the building in the background; it was most likely going to pan over to her in a second. Machino started her introduction, gesturing to the building behind her and to the teams walking around her, and Mikaela squirmed nervously in her spot. "I'm here now with the manager of the Karasuno volleyball team," Machino said with a smile, and Mikaela stiffened. "Although you may know her better from the video that went viral on the internet almost a month ago. Mikaela Kaisha."

The camera shifted until it was on both Machino and Mikaela, and she forced a weak smile onto her face. "Hi."

"Mikaela, you're in your first year of high school, correct?"

Mikaela started to relax. Maybe this wasn't so bad. "Yeah, I am."

"Karasuno had a solid win yesterday, but today you're up against Inarizaki, one of the favorites to win the whole tournament," Machino said smoothly. "How do you think the match today will go? Inarizaki's a strong team."

"We're strong too," Mikaela said immediately, not about to let Karasuno get talked down on live television. She smirked. "Actually, I'll think you'll be surprised by the things we can do."

Machino seemed to like her answer. She grinned. "Any hints on what we can expect?"

She hesitated. "You can expect a good game," Mikaela said carefully, grinning. "Inarizaki's going to have to stay on their toes."

"Strong words," the reporter said, pleased. "Do you believe your team can win this tournament and take home the national title?"

"Of course," Mikaela replied without hesitation.

"Your confidence in your team is admirable. Is it true that a relative of yours is on the team?"

"Yeah, that would be my cousin, Kageyama."

"Kageyama Tobio? The starting setter for Karasuno who went to the All-Japan Youth Camp?"

She laughed. "The very same."

Machino beamed, nodding encouragingly. "You both look very similar, despite only being cousins."

"Yeah, we've been mistaken for twins a lot," Mikaela agreed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Sometimes, it's just easier to go along with it."

The reporter laughed, but her eyes were elsewhere, somewhere behind the camera. Mikaela tensed up. "So, you're quite the internet sensation now," Machino continued. "What can you tell us about that video?"

Mikaela swallowed nervously. "Actually," she said with a nervous laugh, "that happened at the training camp."

Machino laughed. "Really? And is that actually Miya Atsumu, the starting setter for Inarizaki High, whom you hit with your prosthetic?"

"Yep."

"And-" Machino stopped abruptly in the middle of her question, and now Mikaela couldn't help but follow her eyes. Her heart dropped into her stomach when she saw who the reporter was looking at; another team had arrived, clad in black. Unfortunately, Mikaela could read the names on their jacket.

"Inarizaki?" Mikaela said quietly.

Machino gestured to the camera man, then waved at the team. "Miya Atsumu?" she called, and Mikaela groaned inwardly. "Could you spare a minute?"

Mikaela was busy studying the team. She'd seen a lot of them in videos, so she could recognize most of them, but then her eyes landed on Miya Atsumu. He was standing next to his twin, and although they were strikingly similar, she picked out Atsumu immediately. He had a signature smirk on his face, and when he finally noticed her, his eyes lit up and his smirk grew.

 _God, I miss Tsukishima._

"Of course!" he said with a grin, breaking away from the team and sliding into the view of the camera. "Heya, Machino."

Mikaela shot him a glare that could've frozen water to ice, and his smirk only widened. "Hey, Miya-san," she said tiredly.

"Mikaela-chan," he greeted smoothly.

"I was just speaking with Mikaela about the viral video," Machino said, and Mikaela could see how excited she was by the way she was fidgety with the hem of her jacket with her free hand. "Could you shed some light on what happened in that video?"

 _Good lord, could this get any worse?_

To her surprise, Atsumu didn't start complaining about her. Instead, he laughed and draped an arm over her shoulders. "Things got a little bit tense," he teased, his arm tightening around her shoulders. "I accidentally insulted her cousin-"

"Accidentally?" Mikaela muttered.

"-and poked a bit of fun at her, too," he admitted, and Mikaela tried to pretend she wasn't as surprised as she was. She had been expecting a white lie, but he was being surprisingly honest. "Trust me, her actions were _totally_ warranted. Isn't that right, Mikaela-chan?" he gloated, poking her in the ribs with his free hand.

 _Oh. I see what he's doing._ He was being honest, but he was playing it up for the camera that they were all buddy-buddy now. _Fine, I can play._ "It was a bit over the top," she admitted with a laugh, elbowing him hard enough to send a message. He did a very good job of hiding his wince. "Although Miya-san definitely has a skill of getting under people's skin, I shouldn't have thrown my prosthetic at him." She turned to look at him, smirking. "But it was a good shot."

"Unfortunately," Atsumu said with a laugh, stomping on her foot. Mikaela bit her lip to hide her grimace.

Machino looked thrilled. "So you two are on friendly terms?"

"The friendliest," the setter agreed, tightening his hold on her shoulders.

Mikaela scowled and shook his arm off. "Mostly," she agreed, rolling her eyes. "He's a bit too much to deal with sometimes."

"Preach!" someone yelled from over by the Inarizaki team.

Atsumu scowled, but eventually sighed. "Guilty."

"Unfortunately, it appears that this is all the time we have," Machino said, and Mikaela nearly collapsed in relief (she instead chose to kick Atsumu in the shins). "Your teams are matched up against each other today, so best of luck to you both."

"You're gonna need it," Atsumu teased, kicking her in the leg.

Mikaela could've laughed- he kicked her prosthetic leg, she didn't even feel a thing. "Says you," she said with a smirk.

Machino laughed. "Thank you very much, both of you." She signaled to the camera man, and he dropped the camera. Mikaela finally allowed herself to relax. "Good luck today to both of your teams," she said, bidding them both goodbye before she moved to interview the captain of the Inarizaki team.

As soon as Machino was gone, Mikaela scowled and punched Miya Atsumu lightly in the ribs. "Asshole."

"Nice to see you too," he said with a scowl, rubbing his rib cage. "Would it kill you to be a bit nicer?"

"Yes," she replied without missing a beat. She frowned. "What the hell was that?"

"What, me being nice? Not used to it?"

"No- well, yes, but..." Mikaela trailed off.

"You totally expected me to throw you under the bus," he deadpanned.

She shrugged. "Basically, yeah."

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "What, I can't just be a nice guy?" Mikaela glared at him and he shrunk back slightly, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, fine, fine, so you're a bit of an asshole and I totally could've ruined you on live television."

"Your point?"

"My point is that I _didn't,"_ Atsumu emphasized, raising an eyebrow at her. "You're an asshole but you don't deserve to be ruined on national television because of what some prick like me has to say. Besides, I was pretty mean to you, and you were mean to me, and we called it even! Right?"

Mikaela was oddly touched. "Thanks, Miya-san," she said quietly, crossing her arms.

He waved her off. "Call me Sumu, everyone does. Besides, maybe now people will believe me when I say the psycho leg throwing girl and I are on good terms."

She rolled her eyes. "No way."

"Hey! Are you really the one who threw that leg at Atsumu?"

Mikaela jerked her head up and immediately regretted even looking. Facing them was almost the entire Inarizaki team, minus their captain, who was still speaking with Machino. The one who had asked was a dark-skinned, tall man that she recognized from videos- Ojiro Aran, Inarizaki's ace. She also recognized Miya Osamu, Atsumu's twin, and even that freaky middle blocker that she had spent ages going through with Tsukishima- Suna? Yeah, Suna.

 _Oh shit, they're talking to me._

"Guilty," Mikaela said weakly, shrugging sheepishly.

"See, I told you we're friends," Atsumu said proudly, slinging an arm over her shoulder.

Mikaela immediately shoved his arm off. "You're pushing it."

"So you have a prosthetic leg," Ojiro repeated, and Mikaela felt her stomach twist in knots, "and you threw it at him and hit him in the head?"

"...Yes?"

The ace stuck out his hand, smiling at her. "Thank you for your service to this country."

 _"Hey!"_

Mikaela tentatively shook his hand, but she felt a little bit more at ease knowing that these guys weren't going to kill her. "The pleasure was all mine," she said with a grin.

Osamu slid in next to Ojiro and also stuck out his hand, which she shook. "I only wish you had hit him harder," he said, and Mikaela laughed.

"I'm sorry you have to put up with him all the time," she replied, letting go of his hand. "I couldn't even handle five days, I can't imagine having to live with him."

"If I had a prosthetic leg, I'd throw it at him too," another one of their players agreed. Atsumu squawked in protest.

"Is this the girl you were talking about, Atsumu?" Mikaela turned to see Inarizaki's captain returning to the group. Machino was nowhere to be seen- probably off interviewing someone else. "She seems pleasant. Kita Shinsuke," he said, holding out his hand. "Thank you for providing our team with sufficient entertainment for the past month."

 _"Oi!"_

"Anytime," Mikaela said, shaking his hand. _These guys are so formal._ "Pleasure to meet you."

"Although you probably already know who we are," Kita said smoothly, no hint of a smile on his face. "Atsumu says you're a professional stalker."

Mikaela whipped around to glare at the setter, and he grinned sheepishly. "Miya, you asshole," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "What else did you tell them?"

"All good things, Mika-chan, all good things-"

"Do _not_ call me that."

"He's got a habit of making little nick names and such," Osamu said offhandedly, shrugging. "He's a bit immature like that."

Atsumu scowled and pointed an accusing finger at her. "She called me a _dick_ straight to my face in our first conversation!"

There was a slight pause.

Osamu started digging into his bag. "Can I get your autograph?" he asked plainly, producing a slightly crumpled sheet of paper. "I want to hold this over his head as long as I possibly can."

 _"Hey!"_

"Enough with the antics, we have a game," Kita instructed, bowing to Mikaela. "I apologize for bothering you."

"Don't worry about it," Mikaela said, a bit lost but willing to drop the conversation and get back to her own team. "Thanks. Um, for not killing me."

Ojiro snorted. "You thought we'd be mad at you for this? This was the best thing to happen to our team in weeks."

"I hate all of you," Atsumu grumbled.

"Game time," Kita said firmly, turning around. Several of the Inarizaki team members waved goodbye to her and Mikaela waved back slowly, still kind of surprised by the outcome of the events. Osamu actually hugged her briefly before he followed the rest of his team, and Ojiro gave her a fist bump. Atsumu ruffled her hair and she backhanded him in the rib cage (lightly, of course) before he joined his team. Mikaela shook her head in stupor; what the hell had just happened?

No time to think about it. They had a game to win.

* * *

 _ **BONUS:**_

Tsukishima groaned, sitting down on his mat and ignoring the persistence of questions that seemed to storm him like a hurricane. "Just let me go to sleep," he complained, swatting Nishinoya's hands away. The last five minutes had been the best he'd had in days, and he wasn't about to let these idiots ruin it.

Daichi clapped his hands. "Come on, guys, let the boy be. We'll be mad at him tomorrow."

Sugawara beamed, clapping Tsukishima on the shoulder. "Thanks to you, I'll be eating well for the next two weeks," he said pleasantly, squeezing Tsukishima's shoulder just a bit too tightly. "But, in all honest, I'm happy for you."

Tsukishima sighed, feeling heat behind his cheeks. "Thanks, Suga-san."

"And, if you ever do anything to hurt her-" Sugawara's hand tightened painfully on Tsukishima's shoulder- "you'll have worse to deal with than Kageyama."

"Why would I?"

"Oh, you know what I mean."

Sugawara finally let go, smiling at the middle blocker before retiring to his own mat. Tsukishima sighed to himself, his lips quirking into a smirk as he remembered his moment with the manager. About time.

He felt eyes drilling into the back of his head and he turned. "What?" he said with scowl to a frowning Kageyama.

"I think you know," Kageyama said eventually, settling into his own bed.

The unsaid threat hung in the air, and Tsukishima sighed. "Believe me, I do," he grumbled, taking off his glasses and settling them next to his head. He shut his eyes, surprised at how exhausted he was.

God, the things he was going to put up with just so he could be with this girl.

Strangely, he didn't mind.

* * *

 **Hello my friends! I hope you're all well!**

 **Averi-nova:** I don't even know how to write the team's matches without Mikaela as a manager- I know she was always destined to go back to playing but it's still weird XD I'm so excited to write about the match, especially since Mikaela knows the opposing team at a more personal level. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **hannymae:** I wish I could tell you what I plan to do, but personally, I have no idea how I'm going to take this during the time skip. Honestly, I'm leaning towards writing chunks of it out- like, important points in the timeline and for Mikaela's story, but not the whole five years. We'll have to see. Please don't get arrested while trying to read my story XD Yeah, I always get bored with my writing when I just retell the manga, so any way that I can spin it, I'll try! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kitty:** I hope you were ready and that you enjoyed! Thank you so much! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** I hope it was worth the wait! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Tribble. Chan:** I'm just trying to play up both sides, I'm glad it's working XD I'm glad you caught the little jealousy bit! It was subtle but I thought it deserved to be in there. I NEED to throw in a chemistry reference for Kuroo but I'm so dumb so I'll have to look something up! Thanks for the idea with the betting pool ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** Not too much of a spoiler at all in this chapter so I hope you enjoyed the read! Thank you for your lovely review! :D

 **Anne Nonimus:** I hope this was as epic as you imagined! Happy New Year to you as well! :)

 **Yamamoto:** Thank you! :D

 **bbymojo:** I hope this was worth the extra chapter wait ;) Thank you for your review! :)

 **slyKat28:** I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** Don't worry! No manga spoilers in this chapter! Not really, at least... I'm so happy that you're enjoying it! I'm also very happy that you're enjoying the manga, it's such a good read. Thank you so so much for your lovely reviews! :)

 **RainbowMaze:** I'm so glad I could renew your interest in such a wonderful fandom, and I'm so glad you're as invested in Tsukishima and Mikaela as I am! Thank you so much for your reviews! :D

 **Guest:** Wow. Thank you so much for sharing! I'm so glad Mikaela could be an inspiration to you. Honestly, sometimes I tell myself I need to be a bit more like my characters too- I wish I had half of Mikaela's ferocity and wit. Don't worry, I'll keep updating until I'm caught up with the manga- my updates will be every two or three weeks. Thank you for reviewing! :)

 **This chapter was SO FUN! The confession and the interview were both so fun to write and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! I wanted to end it after the confession, but I have to keep reminding myself that this story isn't supposed to be romance-focused and that I need to run this plot along XD**

 **It is currently 1:24 am where I am and I have two midterms, an assignment, two problem sets, and a lab to do within the next three days... but here I am writing ! What fun !**

 **Let me know what you thought! Thank you for your patience! :D**


	49. The Inarizaki Match

**Thank you so much to Swaggishima, komahinami, NocturnaMajora, Elsa, Tribble. Chan, Shadow Wolf 15846, Blue, Kitty, Averi-nova, bbymojo, milkywayheartcupcake, bellamario, Thundqh, Sayori1412, SupMyDudez, NaomiM2000, hannymae, Anne Nonimus, BlueSeraphos, Guest, ktbelle1313, Purrihasgotalongusername, haruka4, xGalaxyx, Amares, CaneVerde, IReallyShouldBeSleeping, Mkamath, everHermione, kimrennee, DreamerQueen3631, WildfireZ03, Miss. V Potter, MochiDreams, Thisismystuffithink, eviliGhn-PumpKin, MrsAnniething, bookdrakonplass4, LegitimateLostGirl, inalllmyspite, leejisabel, sydol51, xTrxshie, XxTheDarknessOfMySoulxX, galita, FanFreak12, ennochikara, and pecopaco615 for your lovely support!**

* * *

Everyone was warming up on the court when Mikaela jogged in, still feeling slightly overwhelmed from the sudden interview and Atsumu's appearance. Part of her couldn't believe that the Inarizaki team had been as chill as they were, but the other part of her wasn't surprised. They were as done with Atsumu's bullshit as she was.

"Miya Atsumu's stats were so high that they had to make another one of him," she heard Sugawara grumble as she walked by.

"That's not how twins work," Asahi said with a chuckle.

Mikaela rolled her eyes at her senpai's antics and headed to the volleyball cart, ready to pass them out to the team as they kept moving through warm ups. She accidentally made eye contact with Miya Atsumu and he waved. She scowled.

"Mikaela, you're friends with that guy?" Tanaka asked incredulously, his eyes narrowing in on one of the twins.

"No," she said with a scowl.

"Yep!" he called back.

"How is your hearing so good?" Mikaela snapped back, glaring at him.

Osamu nudged his twin. "Stop bothering her, moron."

"Yeah, leave her alone," Ojiro added, sliding up next to the twins and nodding to Mikaela. "She's dealt with enough of your crap today."

"Leave the other team's manager alone," Kita said as he walked by.

Hell, even Suna popped up. "Annoying as always."

"Guys! I'm your teammate! Stop attacking me!" Atsumu whined, sulking to himself as the tiny crowd around him all frowned at him. "She's the one who was bothering me! Look at her!"

Mikaela resisted the urge to flip him off.

"Sorry, Mikaela-chan," they all said, almost in unison.

She waved. "No problem."

 _"Hey!"_

"Mikaela, stop fraternizing with the enemy and come help me with plays," Ukai called, beckoning her over. Mikaela rolled her eyes but quickly stepped out of conversation range with the Inarizaki team. Ukai sighed and showed her the play sheet. "It's almost a good thing you won't be our manager anymore, you're much too popular."

Mikaela flushed. "Ugh."

"Can you go check on the game on the third court? That's where we're playing. Let me know when they hit the middle of their second set."

She nodded. "Sure, Coach."

The game ended up being mildly interesting to watch, and Mikaela almost forgot what she went there for. The second set was at 15 - 12 with the lead going to the team who won the first set, so Mikaela jogged back to the warm up court to inform the team. Karasuno gathered their things and started heading to their court, half changing as they went.

"You know," Mikaela remarked, "I never thought I'd have to see you guys wear the orange uniforms."

Since Inarizaki was the favourite to win and their team wore black, Karasuno was forced to wear their alternate uniforms: bright orange. It was laughable, really; Hinata looked like a tangerine, head to toe in orange. Mikaela's eyes lingered on Tsukishima's back as he changed his shirt.

"Staring?"

She jerked up, then glared at Kageyama. "No."

"Is he nice to you?"

"Do we really need to talk about this here?"

"Yes. Is he nice to you?"

"Yes." Mikaela sighed, crossing her arms. "Yes, he is."

Kageyama shrugged. "Okay. Just..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his head. "If you ever get fed up with him, let me know. I'll take care of him for you."

Mikaela raised her eyebrows. "You'll take care of him? You'll date him?"

"That's not what I meant," he snapped, his cheeks tinging red, "and you know it."

She hugged him briefly, then sighed. "I know. Just making fun of you." She glanced up, looking to Tsukishima and Hinata, who were badgering Tanaka. From the sounds of it, they were bothering him about the girl from Niiyama he was acquainted with- Amanai. "Just like how they're making fun of him," Mikaela pointed out, gesturing to Tanaka.

"It was nothing!" she heard Tanaka squabble, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed her. "Speaking of girls, Tsukishima, why don't you tell us about Mikaela?"

The blond ducked out of the conversation faster than Hinata could even move. Mikaela laughed at his sharp evasion as soon as the topic changed, and turned to Ukai. "Need anything else?"

His eyes were elsewhere. "What's this I keep hearing about you and Tsukishima?"

Mikaela coughed. "I didn't think you gossiped, Coach."

"When it concerns my players." He grinned at her, a shit-eating grin that made Mikaela scowl. "You finally sucked it up?"

"How did you... Ugh," she groaned. "Did everyone know?"

"Sugawara isn't exactly quiet."

Mikaela cursed her senpai under her breath. "I hate you all."

Ukai laughed. "I fail to see how that differs from the usual." With a clap of his hands, he summoned the team and started running through last minute details. The game on the court ended, and Karasuno started grabbing their stuff to head down to the court.

Mikaela sighed to herself- this was the part where she found a spot in the stands and waited for the game to be over. She hugged Kageyama, Hinata, and then Yamaguchi, wishing them all luck, and when she got to Tsukishima, she kissed him quickly on the cheek. "For luck," Mikaela stammered out, her eyes dropping to the ground. "Good luck!"

"Thanks," Tsukishima replied, smiling softly, and a chorus of "Aww!"s came from the team. With a scowl, Tsukishima stormed off with the rest of the team, and Mikaela laughed as Tanaka and Nishinoya started hassling him.

 _God, I love this team._

* * *

The game started out rough. Inarizaki's cheer section was ridiculous: they had a full on band (with at least a dozen people on each instrument), banners, cheerleaders, and _then_ they had more fans. Karasuno had a decent cheer section, but unless Saeko showed up soon, Karasuno wouldn't stand a chance. Luckily, Mikaela's prayers were answered when Saeko showed up a few points in with her drum crew, which made all the difference.

Mikaela watched as Kageyama set the ball up for Hinata, and the middle blocker jumped and forgot to swing. "Idiot," Mikaela said affectionately as Hinata cried to himself on the court for such a fantastic job and forgetting to spike the ball. How do you forget to spike? She laughed to herself. _Only Hinata._

"Hey, Mikaela!"

She turned and grinned. "Motoya! Hey!"

"Karasuno's up?" He leaned over the railing next to her. "Ah, not yet. Inarizaki will be tough."

"Yeah, but you guys beat them in the Inter High, right?"

"Well, they got a set off of us, but yeah." Motoya dropped his bag off of his shoulder and settled his arms onto the railing. "Our game's not until later. Mind if we watch with you?"

"We?" Mikaela looked up to see Sakusa. "Oh. Hey, Sakusa-san."

He didn't even acknowledge her. Sakusa moved to stand next to Motoya, his eyes trained on the game. Motoya rolled his eyes. "This'll be a good game," he remarked as Hinata struck with a slide attack to get Karasuno's next point. The points gap grew in Inarizaki's favour, shifting to 7 - 4, but a few ridiculous attacks from Kageyama set them back up to six points, putting the game back within a one point gap.

Hinata slid into position for a receive, and the ball went straight through his arms and bounced off of his foot, rebounding into the air.

"What was that?" Motoya cried out in surprise.

Mikaela burst into laughter. "He's got the craziest luck! Yesterday he used his head to knock a ball over the net!"

"You're kidding," the libero said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sakusa narrowed his eyes. "He has luck on his side?"

"No," Motoya and Mikaela deadpanned in unison before sharing a grin.

The game forged on, with Inarizaki trying to keep a two point lead, but things went sideways when Atsumu and Osamu busted out a minus tempo quick set that looked an awful lot like Kageyama and Hinata's signature quick attack. Motoya seemed to notice it too, because he turned to her and asked, "hey, isn't that what the shrimpy kid on your team does?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah." Another point went by, and the twins managed to pull it off once again, proving it wasn't a fluke. "Watch. Tobio's going to use Hinata for this point, and my guess is that they're going to stuff him, because Atsumu seems to have a grasp on Tobio now." True to her word, Kageyama set it up for Hinata, and Inarizaki stuffed him with a triple block.

Motoya shook his head in disbelief. "You knew that would happen?"

"Well, kind of. Tobio's a very petty person by nature, and having his own play replicated like that would be frustrating enough, so it only makes sense that he'd want to shove it back in Inarizaki's face by doing it himself. He's done that an awful lot, the idiot." Mikaela tapped her chin. "Although, I think we have the advantage because we have Tsukishima."

"Who?"

"The tall blond one." Mikaela pointed to the bench, where he was currently waiting for when Nishinoya would come off. "He's the core of our blocking, and he's had to deal with that freak quick set more than anyone else. He's going to be able to anticipate it and block it, because he knows the little things about it. But Inarizaki isn't aware of that yet- more specifically, Atsumu just likes being a jerk to my cousin so he'll keep doing it so he can piss him off."

The libero sighed. "Wow."

She paused, sulking down slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to rant."

"It's not that, it's just..." Motoya shrugged. "You've got a really good eye for this. I half wish you were at Itachiyama instead."

"Wouldn't make a difference, I'm going to play next year."

Sakusa straightened up, turning towards her. "You're going to play?"

Mikaela nodded, beaming. "Yep."

"Hey, that's awesome." Motoya held out his hand for a fist bump, and Mikaela happily tapped her fist against his. "Good thing for us. Then you won't be there to dissect every single one of our plays."

"I will anyways," Mikaela promised as the score increased to 17 - 14 for Inarizaki. "C'mon, Tobio, get your shit together."

Atsumu served, and by pure luck, it hit the top of the net and tipped over. Mikaela nearly groaned at the bad luck, but Daichi lunged forwards and managed to save the ball, sending it back over the net. She steeled herself as Atsumu set up to set to his twin, as she expected, and she cheered out loud when Tsukishima completely shut him off, getting a kill block.

"Yes! Hell yes, that's what I'm talking about," she said proudly, leaning onto the railing. Her eyes followed Tsukishima as he was congratulated by his teammates, and he was smirking. "He's so good."

"He's the one who shut down Ushijima?" Sakusa said suspiciously, leaning forwards and narrowing his eyes at the blond.

Motoya nodded. "Yeah, that was well done." He glanced sideways at Mikaela, who was still leaning on the railing and watching Tsukishima with a dreamy look in her eyes. "He's a first year too, right?"

Mikaela shook herself, tearing her eyes away from the middle blocker to glance at the libero. "Yeah- yes. He's a first year."

"Hm." Motoya's brow furrowed, and he turned back to the court. They watched another point in relative silence until Motoya said, "he's tall."

"And mean," Mikaela added, making him chuckle. "No, seriously. He's an asshole."

"He blocked Ushijima," Sakusa muttered.

The points continued to tick by, and Karasuno was slowly making up the difference. They tied it up at 18 - 18, when Hinata managed to block Miya Osamu, but Inarizaki immediately snatched up two more points in the blink of an eye. Karasuno came straight back at them to tie it up again, and the score was 22 - 22 when Hinata was put into the serving position. He seemed excited to serve, but Ukai put in Yamaguchi instead.

"Say, didn't that kid whip out some crazy serve yesterday?"

Mikaela only heard half of what Motoya said. She turned towards him. "What?"

"The orange-haired kid." He pointed to Hinata, who was dejectedly shuffling off the court, handing the volleyball to Yamaguchi. "I didn't see it, but there were rumors that Karasuno's first year with the freak quick attacks also had a ridiculously freaky serve that he used yesterday. Got a four serve streak or something."

"True, but he only did that crazy serve for two of those," Mikaela corrected, watching Yamaguchi set up to serve. "It's really inconsistent, so the fact it even worked properly twice was pretty miraculous."

"You know about it?"

"I taught it to him."

Motoya raised his eyebrows. "Really? What kind of serve is it?"

She laughed. "Like I'd tell you."

Yamaguchi got a service ace, and Mikaela nearly squealed. He was so grown up, she could've cried. This was the first time Karasuno had taken the lead in this set, and they only needed two more points to win it. Inarizaki, however, scored the next point, resulting in Yamaguchi being subbed off and Nishinoya jumping in. Inarizaki's wicked serve was received by Daichi, but it went long- _way_ long, over to the other side of the court and out of bounds.

To Mikaela's surprise, Kageyama took off after it, and managed to set it back to Asahi, who punched it though. "Damn," Mikaela said, shaking her head. "Every time I think he can't get any better, he comes back with stuff like that."

"Your cousin's wickedly good," Motoya agreed. "I don't know how he pulled off something like that."

Mikaela didn't know why, but her mind drifted to Oikawa. She missed him. Part of her wondered if he was watching the match and what he thought of how Kageyama was doing.

The points went back and forth, hitting 25 - 25. Tsukishima made a great emergency set for Asahi, who secured their next point. "If you lot could get a break point anytime now, that would be great," Mikaela grumbled to herself.

Almost like he heard her, Tanaka pulled off a ridiculous cut shot to make the score 27 - 25, winning the first set for Karasuno. Mikaela grinned to herself. Motoya laughed. "That was a good shot."

"What year is he in?" Sakusa asked.

"Second. He'll be our ace next year."

"I haven't heard of him before," the libero remarked.

Mikaela shrugged as she watched the celebration unfold on the court. "He's good, but he's only recently started getting better at serving and spiking. He's got a decent jump serve now, and I know he's been working on those cut shots for a long time now. He's got more energy on the court than anyone else."

Sakusa folded his arms. "Is he a threat?"

Mikaela shot him a funny look. "Isn't everyone a threat to you, Sakusa-san?"

Motoya laughed, and Sakusa narrowed his eyes. "No. You're not. But if he's going to be even better next year, we have to watch out for him-"

"Hold up, you don't think I'm a threat?"

The number one ace in the country shrugged. "No. Why would you be?"

"Even though I'm decently good at gathering information and analyzing players?"

"Well, you said you're playing next year. So, no."

"I never said I was playing for the girls' team."

The Itachiyama players both paused, regarding her with something akin to horror in their eyes. "You're going to play on the boys' team?" Motoya said slowly, eyes wide.

She laughed. "No. Just messing with you."

They both relaxed slightly. Mikaela laughed again- her ability to dissect players and pull apart all the positives and negatives of a team was that terrifying? She'd never considered playing on the boys' team, but now that she thought about it, could she? Nah- they had a team. They were happy and they were doing well. She'd throw off their whole rhythm.

The second set went badly. Atsumu was whipping out service ace after service ace, and to make matters worse, he was scoring them off of Nishinoya. His jump floaters were putting Nishinoya through a rough patch; she knew for a fact that the libero hated overhands. At one point, Kageyama pulled off two service aces in a row, which made Mikaela feel a bit better, but they were still behind by seven points, so the gap was almost too big to be filled.

Mikaela sighed, leaning against the rail and turning her head to the left to glance at the scoreboard. She'd picked the spot right next to the giant lit-up board; it was the closest place to the court. "This is rough," she mumbled, the score flashing 21 - 14 for Inarizaki.

Motoya nodded. "Yeah, I don't know if they'll be able to catch up."

She pursed her lips, not knowing what to say. Across the court, Osamu was readying himself to serve. Mikaela watched, almost in slow motion, as the serve flew much too high and rocketed at the score board.

"Holy crap!" Motoya yelled, ducking, but Mikaela didn't even flinch as it hit the score board, about two feet away from her head. _Home run serve. Hey, at least that means it's our point._

Mikaela turned back to the court, where the players were turned and looking at the board- and by proxy, her. Mikaela locked eyes with Osamu and shot him the hardest glare she could muster.

Osamu actually winced and turned away, then proceeded to get hassled by his brother. "Damn," Motoya said with a shake of his head.

"What?"

"You didn't even flinch, and then you managed to glare down one of the Miya twins," he said, turning to Sakusa. "You didn't flinch either, you monster. That was so close to us! Mikaela, you're a monster too. You're picking fights with the Miya twins- do you even know what you're doing?"

She grinned, cracking her knuckles. "Yep. They should be scared." She cast a sideways glance at Sakusa. "Is that threatening enough for you, Sakusa-san?"

"You're annoying."

"Thank you."

Karasuno ended up losing the second set by nine points, which was worse than Mikaela would've liked. She had faith that they would take off for the third set, and from the looks of the discussion around the bench, Ukai had some plans. Not only did Kageyama manage to stuff Ojiro in the first few points, but Tsukishma's consistent blocking was making it harder and harder for Inarizaki to score. They had really upped their defense, and Mikaela was impressed- this was a strong rotation.

Kageyama whipped out another service ace, bringing the team up to 8 - 5. Karasuno had a decent lead right off the start, but Mikaela wasn't sure how long it would last. "Kageyama's on fire today," Motoya said with a laugh. "How many aces is that?"

"He's been practicing," Mikaela agreed, watching him set up for his next serve.

The score kept climbing, and Inarizaki started closing the gap. Then, after three ridiculously strong serves in a row from one of their pinch servers, Inarizaki pulled into the lead, 13 - 12. Mikaela gritted her teeth as the next point dragged on, and the twins pulled out another freak quick- but this time, it was Osamu setting to Atsumu.

"Dear lord," Mikaela groaned, sinking onto the rail. "What the hell was that?"

"That's ridiculous," the Itachiyama player agreed with a shake of his head. "How can they just pull that out of nowhere?"

The points continued to drag on, but Inarizaki had a few points of a lead. They were putting together some absolutely ridiculous plays and Mikaela would've strangled Atsumu if she was down there- he was _so_ annoying to play against. Hinata went up to serve, and to Mikaela's delight, he set up for his knuckle serve.

Motoya tapped her shoulder. "Oh! This is that serve thing!"

"Just watch it," Mikaela said, her eyes never leaving the court.

It worked like a charm- the spin on the ball was ridiculous. _Hinata, you've gotten so good at those._ It went right to Atsumu, who struggled to get the ball up. Osamu set it for Ojiro, who punched it past the blockers and straight to Hinata, who received it perfectly.

"I'm going to cry," Mikaela said aloud as Inarizaki, by some miracle, wound up on top for the point.

Motoya nudged her. "Why's that?"

"That receive was damn near perfect- and trust me, this kid used to _suck_ at receiving- and then Atsumu had the audacity to get the point. Karasuno deserved that one."

"I'll file your complaint for you, I'm sure he'll understand."

She laughed. "Thanks."

The score was 19 - 17 for Inarizaki when Kageyama set the ball for Tsukishima. With a combination of bad stamina and a set that was just a bit too high, Tsukishima missed the spike, and the ball hit the floor on Karasuno's court. Mikaela winced to herself- Inarizaki had hit the twenty point mark and was up by three. That wasn't good.

However, without flinching, Karasuno took three points in a row: one from a quick set with Tsukishima, another from Asahi's service ace, and then a third with a back attack from Daichi. 20 - 20.

"This isn't good for my heart," she muttered.

Motoya nodded. "This is a good game."

Sakusa shrugged. "Motoya, we have warm up in fifteen minutes."

"They better wrap this up in fifteen minutes," the libero said with a chuckle. "Or else we're going to be late for warm ups."

Mikaela was about to criticize him for risking being late to warm up, but a part of her understood. This was one of those games where you _had_ to see the ending, especially if you'd been watching since the beginning.

Karasuno pulled ahead, but it didn't last long; Atsumu whipped out a setter dump and then a wicked serve that led to an drastic jump in points. Inarizaki was ahead, 24 - 22. Karasuno needed to get two points in a row to even have a prayer of a chance to win the set. Thankfully, Tanaka punched through the triple block with a laser-sharp line shot, and Kageyama nailed a service ace to bring the game to a tie.

"Five minutes," Sakusa pointed out.

Motoya waved him off. "Meh."

The score kept piling higher, hitting 30 - 30 with amazing play after amazing play. Kageyama stole their 31st point with a nasty setter dump, and Mikaela wanted to hug him- he was petty as hell and she loved it.

("Motoya, we're late."

"I texted Coach. We'll be fine.")

The point dragged on and on. Inarizaki received and set it up, and Daichi received and set it up. Karasuno was getting faster and faster, and they kept going and going, until Tanaka managed a smooth rebound and Hinata made a high receive, giving everyone time to breathe. Karasuno put together a synchronized attack and Kageyama sent the ball to Tanaka. Inarizaki was quick to block, but Kageyama managed to keep it in the air. Tsukishima lunged for the ball, knocking it just a little bit higher, and Daichi swooped in with the third hit to send it back over the net.

 _I never thought I'd see Tsukishima chase the ball like that._

The only problem was, Karasuno was in such disarray that if Inarizaki attacked straight away, they wouldn't be in any position to receive. And the twins knew that. Mikaela bit her lip as Osamu charged up from the back row, ready for a quick two-touch to put the point away for good.

Mikaela felt her eyes well up when Hinata and Kageyama jumped at Osamu and effectively blocked him, getting the point. Karasuno won, 32 - 30.

"We gotta go," Motoya said, pulling himself off of the railing. "Congratulate Kageyama for me."

She nodded, still feeling a bit too overwhelmed from the win to say anything. He waved, then he and Sakusa left, vanishing into the throng of people. Mikaela sank into the railing, the stress and anxiety of the game finally lifted from her shoulders.

 _They won._

 _Take that, Atsumu!_

Mikaela shook herself out and started weaving through the crowd of people, eager to get down to the ground floor and find the team. They had just won an exhausting, exhilarating game; they were going to pass out within minutes of the adrenaline wearing off, guaranteed. "Excuse me," she said, pushing past a few more spectators that stood between her and her team. The one good thing about the orange uniforms was that they were easy to spot, and she found the Karasuno crowd relatively quickly.

As soon as she made eye contact with Kageyama, she sprang at him, ignoring how sweaty he was and hugging him tightly. "You did so good," she mumbled into his shoulder. "I think that's one of the best games I've ever seen you play."

He pulled back from her and frowned. "Kaisha, I'm sweaty."

"I don't care."

"Fine. Thank you." Kageyama smirked. "We won."

"I know!" With a laugh, Mikaela spun over to Yamaguchi, hugging him next. "Yams, you did great! Your serves were on point!"

He hugged her back, then pulled away, beaming. "Thanks, Kaela!"

"I'm literally so proud of you, that was such a good game for you!" Mikaela hugged him one last time, then cast her eyes among the sea of orange, looking for the same person she always found herself looking for lately. Her eyes finally landed on Tsukishima, and she was about to go to him when Hinata jumped on her back. "Hey! Shoyo!"

"Kaisha! We won! Did you see my receives? Did you see me block the twin?" Hinata clambered off of her back, bouncing around her. "Did you see my serve? Did you see that slide?"

"I saw all of it!" Mikaela confirmed with a laugh. "Your receives were fantastic!"

"Thank you!" Hinata jumped in excitement, nearly clearing her head. "I feel like I could go play another game right now!"

"That's not normal," she heard Tanaka mutter, shaking his head in exhaustion.

Mikaela rolled her eyes and laughed as Hinata pounced onto Kageyama. Free of the orange-haired ball of energy, Mikaela turned back to where she saw Tsukishima last and deflated- where did he go? The team was in disarray, packing up their stuff and throwing jackets on. The third years were already on their way up the stairs, Ukai was somewhere behind her... how hard was it to find a six foot three blond guy wearing orange?

Maybe he left already. Actually, that was highly likely. Mikaela started heading up the stairs, following the majority of the team, and stopped when she got to the top. Where was he? She couldn't see him.

She ducked around a corner and immediately regretted it, because she had just walked into the Inarizaki team.

 _Oops._

Ojiro noticed her first and nodded to her. "Ah. Mikaela-chan."

She bowed awkwardly as the rest of the team took notice of her. "Well played game."

"You're just saying that because you won," Atsumu scoffed.

Mikaela caught his eye and frowned at him. "No, I'm saying that because it was a well played game, dumbass." She turned to glare at Osamu. "Thanks for almost hitting me with your serve."

One of their players (a starter, Ginjama, strong serves and consistent attacks) laughed. "That look you gave him was priceless."

Osamu shrugged, rolling his eyes. "My bad."

"You can blame that one on Atsumu," Ojiro added. "He was trying to rile up Osamu all game."

"Hey!"

"Can't you just blame everything on Atsumu, though?" Mikaela asked, which earned her a few laughs.

Kita, their captain, beckoned to the team. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mikaela. I'm sure we'll see you again in the near future. Let's get going." The team started gathering their stuff, and Mikaela waved awkwardly and started to turn away.

"Hey, wait." Mikaela turned back to see Atsumu, who had his bag slung over his shoulder and his hands jammed in his pockets. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure?" She shrugged, glancing behind him to see the rest of Inarizaki heading the other way. "Shouldn't you be with your team?"

"This won't take long."

"Is it about the interview this morning?" Mikaela asked, frowning. "I didn't know she was going to drag you into-"

"It's not that, dumbass," Atsumu snapped, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "Just shut up and listen for a second." She raised her eyebrows and mimed zipping her lips. He rolled his eyes. "Okay, smartass. Look, it's not a big deal, but can..." he huffed, turning away from her for a moment before turning back. "Could I get your number?"

Mikaela faltered, her lips parting in surprise. No sound came out of her mouth.

Atsumu scowled, flushing. "You don't have to act so surprised."

"Wait, _seriously?"_

He shrugged. "Yeah. When you're not being insufferably annoying, you're actually kind of cool. And funny. And pretty. And..." The setter trailed off, shifting. "Well, you know. Can I get your number or not?"

Mikaela finally collected herself and sighed. "I'm sorry, Atsumu, I'm actually, uh... I like someone."

"Really? Who?"

"Me."

She nearly jumped out of her skin. She'd been so absorbed in the sudden revelation that she hadn't noticed Tsukishima come up behind her. Mikaela glanced up at him, her lips forming his name, but he wasn't looking at her; Tsukishima was staring down Miya Atsumu, his mouth not quite set in a glare but in some sort of smirk. When she finally collected her voice, she managed, "I was looking for you."

"You didn't do a very good job," he said. Okay, _now_ he really was smirking.

Mikaela scowled, crossing her arms. "I got held up."

"Apparently. And you neglected to mention that we're together," Tsukishima added, loud enough to ensure that Atsumu definitely heard him. Mikaela's heart did some sort of funky tap dance and her lips turned up into a smile. His lips twitched in return.

"Wait, actually?" Atsumu's jaw dropped, and his hands went slack. "Since when?"

"Last night, actually," Mikaela said, turning away from her boyfriend (oh my god he was her boyfriend!) and towards Atsumu. "Sorry. I really am."

"Damn," the Inarizaki setter said, straightening up. "Well, congrats, I guess."

"Thanks," she replied awkwardly. "Look, I'd still love to hang out and get coffee sometime or something. If you're ever in the area, let me know. Seriously." She held out her hand, smiling at him. "I'm glad it was you that I threw my prosthetic at."

To his credit, Atsumu took it surprisingly well. "Whatever, Princess," he said, taking her hand and shaking it. "When you're done with this robot, you know how to find me."

Mikaela smirked, her grip on his hand tightening. "Well, if you think I'm good looking, then I can refer you to Kageyama. I'm told we look alike."

Tsukishima laughed, which sent Mikaela's heart into a happy dance. Atsumu scowled, face flushed, and let go of her hand. "Good luck tomorrow," he said, rolling his eyes. He started walking backwards. "You'd better not cramp up on day three."

"We won't," she assured him.

Atsumu waved one last time, then turned around and started walking with the crowd. Mikaela waited until she couldn't see him anymore before she turned to Tsukishima, sighing in relief. "Your timing is perfect," the manager said, poking him in the side.

He shrugged. "Well, I saw him ask for your number, and I thought I'd wait."

"Really? And you didn't come save me from embarrassment?"

"It's fun watching you flounder."

"Asshole," Mikaela said affectionately, nudging him. Together, they started walking towards where the rest of the Karasuno team had went. "So.. We're official? Like, boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Tsukishima raised an eyebrow at her. "Wasn't that the point of your confession?"

She blushed. "I'm just checking, idiot. You're hard to read."

"So kissing you was hard to read?"

"No! No."

"Then what was?"

"Well, you just, well, never said anything, so I didn't know for sure..." Mikaela trailed off, shrugging helplessly. "For all I knew, it was a one time thing."

Tsukishima hummed in acknowledgement, and they ducked around a group of people and turned a corner, heading towards another set of stairs. Mikaela caught sight of Hinata's signature orange hair up ahead; at least they were headed the right way. She kept waiting for Tsukishima to say something, anything to diffuse her worries.

"When you punched Yuka in the face."

Mikaela nearly stopped in the middle of the crowd. "What?"

Tsukishima turned to her and shrugged. "That's when I knew for sure."

"That you liked me?"

He nodded.

Mikaela had to bite her lip to prevent herself from breaking into a ridiculously large grin. "You have a thing for pain, Tsukishima?" she teased, her ponytail swinging over her shoulder.

Tsukishima scowled. "You're disgusting. No."

"Then what was it?"

He shrugged as they turned another corner. "Since that whole thing with your mother went down and you started staying at my place, I thought you were..." he waved his hand ambiguously. "You know."

"No I don't, explain."

"You're a pain. I had you labelled as a carbon copy of Kageyama, but I saw..." Tsukishima trailed off, his voice lowering. "This is embarrassing." Mikaela kicked him lightly, shooting him a frown, and he sighed. "It was a different side of you. That's what drew me in. I'd been debating about it, and I was going to dismiss it as simple curiosity, which would've been easy enough to pass off. But the icing on the cake was walking back into that class and seeing you standing at your desk, and then you coming out of the office, and..."

Tsukishima shook his head, and Mikaela's heart melted in her chest when she saw the affectionate smirk on his face. "I thought it was the dumbest thing, you know. Punching her. Who cares what she said? Then Yamaguchi told me everything, and I still thought you were dumb for taking the bait, but you came out of the office and you acted like it never happened. Like it didn't matter. You weren't angry. You made your point and left it."

"And that's when you knew?" Mikaela repeated, still flabbergasted.

"Yes. Now shut up."

"Tsukishima, I don't think I've ever heard you talk that much, ever."

"Shut up."

She rolled her eyes, nudging him with her elbow to show she was teasing. "Thank you," Mikaela murmured, barely loud enough to be heard over the crowd. "For sharing. I know you don't open much so that means a lot to me."

He huffed, but when Mikaela glanced up at him, she saw that his cheeks were tinged red. "Whatever," Tsukishima grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Stop being such a sap."

She laughed. "Whatever you say."

When they finally caught up with the team, of _course_ they were relentlessly teased ("No detours, you two!") before heading back on the bus. Mikaela sat next to Tsukishima on the way back, holding his hand under the safety of a jacket. She couldn't believe this was real.

 _If this is a dream,_ Mikaela thought to herself as Tsukishima's thumb traced circles on the back of her hand, _I'm never waking up._

* * *

 **Hello my friends :) At this point this story has almost 450 followers. How. How in God's name do four hundred and fifty people follow this?! I'm blown away and so, so grateful. You guys really motivate me to write through the stress of midterms. Much appreciated.**

 **Aaaand we're creeping up on 100, 000 views. That's insane. I'm so humbled, thank you guys. I wouldn't be here without you.**

 **hannymae:** Your reactions get me every time, I love how descriptive you are XD Yep, Mikaela's experience with media hasn't exactly been entirely positive and I don't know if I want to do anything with the interview... still debating. Anyways YES Akaashi with glasses is all I've ever needed in life and it makes me so happy but WHERE is Nishinoya I DEMAND to know! I'm so so glad you enjoyed the confession and thank you for reviewing! :)

 **ktbelle1313:** Aw, thank you! I'm so happy you liked it, thank you for the review! :D

 **BlueSeraphos:** The deadpan nature of your review made me laugh XD Thank you for your review! :)

 **Guest:** I'm so glad you liked it! Thank you so much! :D

 **Anne Nonimus:** I'm glad you enjoyed it, thank you for your review! :)

 **NaomiM2000:** Oh my god I'm so glad you liked the last chapter so much! I was rereading the manga and really wanted to let Suga have a bit more time to shine so I threw in the 'threatening-to-go-to-bed' thing and the betting pool, so worth it XD I'm so glad you've fallen in love with Tsukishima like I have and I'm glad you loved the chapter! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **SupMyDudez:** I'm so glad you liked it and it wasn't a let down! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** Aha I'm so glad you liked it and that you think I kept the characters in character! It's so hard sometimes ;-; Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Thundqh:** The tattoo part was a spur of the moment thing, I'm glad you liked it! XD Thank you for your review! :)

 **bellamario:** Thank you! Thank you for your review! :D

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** Shh ;) Thank you for your review! :)

 **bbymojo:** Aw I'm so glad! I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Averi-nova:** ME TOOOOOOOOOOOO also practice! Just a lot of practice! Trust me if you read my old stuff it'd be pretty cringey XD I hope this chapter helped for that regard because I wanted to add a bit of that in there too ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Kitty:** Yup, Sumu and Kaisha are friends! This chapter kind of puts them in a rocky place but they're still friends. I'm so glad you liked the confession so much, thank you for your review! :D

 **Blue:** I understand the 'Grammar Nazi' feelings, because you're totally right- it's kind of hard sometimes. I'm so glad you found my fanfic and I'm so glad you like it so much! Thank you so much for all the compliments and I'm so so so happy you're enjoying this. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Aw, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Tribble. Chan:** I'm so glad it didn't disappoint! And I'm glad you liked the tattoo ;) Yeah, I avoided the whole Kageyama-Dateko match drama because I do believe that Mikaela being around him helps to curb the more controlling side of his personality. That whole Dateko drama crap only happened because Miya Atsumu (frickin dumbass) called him a goody-two-shoes and Kageyama dwelled over that ages. So with all the Mikaela drama going on, that was just one more thing to throw on the table. Anywho, thank you so much for your review! Much appreciated! :)

 **Elsa:** I've thought about it and maybe! But it'll all be time dependent- I'm a busy person XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **NocturnaMajora:** Thank you for binge-ing! I'm so glad my story is binge worthy, thank you! Thank you so so much for your review! :)

 **komahinami:** Aw, thank you for binge reading this! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and that you think I handled the confession well, I was so worried T^T Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** I'm so glad you liked it! Yeah, it's hard to fit all the characters into a scene, so I made sure to give Hinata a bit of a chance to shine in this chapter. I'm going to continue this until the end of the manga with my own scenes interwoven in between due to the timeskip in the manga- depending on where the manga ends, I may go overboard or not. Thank you so much for your lovely review! :)

 **I'm always blown away by the amount of feedback. Like, what the heck. Thank you so much. I can't say it enough.**

 **Also: fun fact! I've met a guy in my program that I've become really good friends with, and he's a volleyball player! Like, on a professional level! He talks about volleyball and the only reason I can follow along with no problem is Haikyuu XD**

 **Much love!~**


	50. The Cats

**Oh my god, chapter fifty! Thank you so much to hannymae, Kimiko, Sayori142, Padgent, Averi-Nova, Shadow Wolf 15846, Anne Nonimus, luvielle, LouTheStarSpeaker, imaginesakura, Yamamoto, Elsa, Swaggishima, TF Volt, bellamario, Tribble. Chan, Soppl, XxTheDarknessOfMySoulxX, autumnseoul, Yuuko Aosagibi, PrettyInPlaid, angeldevil728, hellomikaaa, allyssgolfo, kellycorbeilbedard16, Itachi'sLover420, Kimamber, first9, CelestialAlchemist95, ChiiRulesTheWorld, Sylvr Tyz, Boooop, anndriiea, ochadesu, 1fic4life, kathipitz, AbbyIA, BabbyDoll-of-Fandom, GlaresThatKill, astorgaming, xninjax3, Vinladlee, silent-raven98, Shirakuen, marie420, Corgicorn, baeechan, Tragedy's at Hand, and SparkleHax for all of your kindness and support!**

* * *

"Hey, Mikaela?"

"Hm?"

"If you stay up past 10 pm, I will personally haunt your nightmares."

Mikaela frowned and glanced up from her laptop, putting a pause on the Nekoma game that had just occurred that day. "That's how low we've stooped now?" she asked, her lips twitching into a smirk. "We're doing threats that mean nothing?"

Daichi sighed, crossing his arms. "Mikaela, it's almost nine. We've got two games tomorrow instead of one, and we need you well rested."

She grinned. "Already planning on that second game, aren't you, Captain?"

"Well, maybe that's a bit presumptuous of me, but-"

"Worry not, I've planned it out too!" Mikaela spun her laptop around and pulled up a different tab she'd been working on. In it was a spreadsheet titled 'Kamomedai' with several players listed in the margins and various columns following. "I have total faith that it'll be Kamomedai we face after Nekoma, and they're going to be like Date Tech on steroids." She pulled up a separate tab, where she'd been halfway through watching the Kamomedai match from that same day. "This one's a good match. Besides, Hoshiumi's going to be-"

"Wait, you have a spreadsheet?"

Mikaela nodded, turning back to the first tab. "Yeah. I was flying through notebooks and it was getting excessive. All this digital stuff is so cool, hm?"

"Who showed you this?"

"Yachi."

Daichi shook his head and muttered something under his breath that Mikaela couldn't catch. He leaned closer to the screen. "Well, that's not that bad. I thought you'd have more."

"Oh, that's because you didn't scroll."

"How much more can you possibly- oh dear lord."

Mikaela swiped through, and swiped through, and swiped through, and kept going for a seemingly impossible amount of time until she hit the most recent column. "Honestly, they're all a bunch of conservative little shits- all have their social media on private- so I'm debating which one has the easiest password to crack. If I can get into one, then I can see all of them on social media. The only problem is various platforms, unless I can find some dumbass who uses the same password for anything-"

"You've hacked into their accounts?" Daichi nearly shouted, eyes wide in disbelief.

She shrugged. "Not yet I haven't."

"Holy... Mikaela, _no."_

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. Not worth much anyways."

"You are..."

"A genius?"

"A problem child."

"Close enough."

"Look, seriously though." Daichi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You've got more than enough. That's plenty of information for all the teams out here."

Her eyes widened. "Wait, you thought that was for _all_ the teams? That was just Kamomedai."

His jaw dropped. "All of that was just for Kamomedai?"

"Yep! Minus their social media information. Can't get a hold of that without digging into their accounts, and you've already glared at me enough for that. Here's the other folders." Mikaela went to the home page for the spreadsheet website, and Daichi's eyes bugged out of his head when he saw how many folders she had. They were organized alphabetically by school name, and it had every single school in the tournament. Some had large red crosses in front of their names- the ones who were already eliminated from the tournament. Daichi spotted Tsubakihara Academy and Inarizaki among them. His eyes narrowed in on one folder titled Niiyama.

The Karasuno captain pointed at the Niiyama folder. "Niiyama doesn't have a guys' team in the tournament."

Mikaela stiffened and clicked on the Nekoma folder, located just above the Niiyama one. "It's the girls' team," she said shortly, scrolling through Nekoma's profile. "Nekoma's kinda boring, honestly. Not too much information. But I'm friends with a couple of them on social media, so some of that was easy enough to find out."

Daichi let the topic drop and narrowed his eyes at the row labeled 'Kuroo'. "You seem to know an awful lot about Kuroo's past relationships."

"I'm pretty good friends with his grandpa."

"...I'm not even going to ask."

"Mikaela." The manager and captain looked up from her laptop screen to see Tsukishima hovering beside them, his hair damp and his hands jammed in his pockets. It looked like he'd just finished bathing. _God, Mikaela, don't even think about that._ Tsukishima nodded to Daichi. "Captain. Can I borrow Mikaela for a second?"

"Of course," Daichi agreed, straightening up. He shot one last glare at Mikaela. "In bed by ten. I mean it. Also!" He crossed his arms and glared at the two of them, and Mikaela knew this was about her and Tsukishima's new relationship- or whatever this was. "You two lost me a thousand yen," Daichi said with a sigh. "You couldn't have waited another week?"

"Blame her, not me," Tsukishima said immediately.

She scowled and kicked him. "Asshole."

"Just..." he shrugged, obviously tired from the game that day. "Mikaela, go to bed at some point."

"Yes, Captain," she replied. Daichi sighed, probably debating whether or not she was actually going to listen to him, and left for the boys' room, shaking his head. Mikaela smirked to herself and turned to Tsukishima. "What's up? How were the baths?"

"Fine," he said with a sigh, sitting himself down next to her on the couch. Mikaela raised an eyebrow at him, closing her laptop. He looked like he had something he wanted to say, so she waited, pinching her lips together to keep from talking. He frowned at her, then sighed. "It's the shrimp."

"Hinata? What about him?"

"He's wired," Tsukishima muttered, shaking his head. "It's annoying as hell."

She laughed. "Still?"

He glanced at her, and Mikaela saw how serious he was. "Still." He groaned, leaning back into the couch, and Mikaela resisted the urge to lean on his shoulder and cuddle into his side. "It's not normal."

 _That's what people keep saying, but... he's serious._ Mikaela straightened up, leaning towards him. "He normally crashes right about now. You're saying he's still as much in an adrenaline high as he was earlier?" Tsukishima nodded. "Alright, I'll check up on him."

"You do that," he grumbled. "I, for one, am dead exhausted."

"Aw, Tsukishima," Mikaela teased, punching him lightly in the shoulder, "you do care."

He scowled. "I do not."

"You do!"

"I just don't want him keeping me awake all night with his ridiculous energy."

"Just admit it, you care about his well-being, but you personally don't want to do anything about it," Mikaela explained with a grin, "which is why you came to me."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Absolutely not, Mik. I don't care about that tangerine monster."

Mikaela's tongue dried in her throat and she felt her cheeks colour. He'd only used that nickname once before and it had made her heart stampede in her chest. "Mik?" she said carefully, trying to prevent the smile that was splitting across her face. "That's the second time you've called me that."

"Oh? You don't like it?"

"No! No, I like it."

"Okay."

"But- But I don't have a nickname for you," Mikaela forced out, her face flushed. "I don't really want to call you Tsukki, that's Yamaguchi's nickname for you. I don't know how else to shorten your name, so-"

"Just call me Kei," he replied.

Her eyes widened. "I can call you Kei?"

Tsukishima shrugged, his cheeks tinging red. "I don't care. But sure."

Mikaela was about to reply, her heart beating annoyingly fast in her chest, when there was a loud sigh from across the room. They both looked up to see Sugawara smiling happily to himself. "You two are adorable," Suga said, smiling innocently. "And thank you very much for winning me the bet."

"No problem?"

"Also, Mikaela, do you know when your interview's supposed to be on?"

She shrugged. "I half hope it doesn't make it to television. Hey, Tanaka!" Tanaka and Nishinoya, who had been posted in front of the television with the volleyball news channel on since they'd returned from the game, both looked up. "Has my interview come up yet?"

"They're showing player interviews with Machino now," Tanaka replied, "but so far, it's only captains from some of the teams."

Mikaela straightened up. "Have they shown the Inarizaki captain yet?"

Nishinoya nodded. "Yeah, he's on right now. They're doing the before game stuff."

"I should be on soon then," Mikaela replied, hopping up from the couch and over to the television. "But I wouldn't be surprised if she cut out my interview."

Tsukishima wandered on after her, his eyes fixed on the screen. "You're the biggest celebrity at these games, Mikaela. There's no way they're not going to show your interview."

"No, there was a problem with mine. Miya Atsumu crashed it."

 _"What?!"_

It didn't take long after that proclamation for the rest of the team to gather in front of the television, eagerly watching Machino interview Kita. Mikaela sighed and silently prayed that they wouldn't show the interview, but like Tsukishima said, she was gaining more and more popularity across the internet, and Atsumu's interview crash would only make the video more popular.

"She's done with the Inarizaki captain!" Sugawara called out as an update, and everyone turned to the screen.

Machino was seated behind a desk, with a television set up behind her. On the television screen was the final screen cap of her interview with Kita. _"Although it was a loss for Inarizaki today, in one of the biggest upsets in recent history,"_ Machino said, her hands folded and resting on the desk in front of her, _"it was still a fantastic game, one of the most entertaining games that we've seen so far. Karasuno managed to pull away with the win, and I was lucky enough to have a few words with Karasuno's manager before the game."_

"Here we go," Mikaela grumbled under her breath.

Machino smiled at the camera. _"Now, I normally don't interview the managers of these teams, but this isn't just your ordinary manager. Mikaela Kaisha is not only the manager for the Karasuno boys' team, but she's also an internet sensation. Let's have a look at what she- and Miya Atsumu, the star setter of Inarizaki and the other person rising to fame after a certain video leak- have to say about the match and the video itself."_

"Miya crashed your interview?" Tanaka asked loudly. "Wow."

"She invited him over," Mikaela clarified with a sigh, shifting nervously in her spot as the screen changed from Machino's desk to Machino and Mikaela in front of the stadium. "Oh my god."

"It's Mikaela!" Nishinoya shouted out, excited. Suga shushed him quickly.

Mikaela could quickly see that some parts had been edited out. For example, the starting introduction part where she'd introduced them. It cut straight to Machino's first question to her and some of the tension eased out of Mikaela's shoulders. Thankfully, she didn't look overly tense in the interview. Actually, she seemed pretty relaxed.

The interview went relatively smoothly, and Kageyama even shot her a quick smirk when she talked about him, but Mikaela tensed up when Machino started asking her about the video. As soon as Machino said, _"Miya Atsumu? Could you spare a minute?"_ the entire team burst into chatter.

"The look on your face!" Sugawara wheezed, pointing at Mikaela's horrified face on camera. "Priceless!"

"I should've brought popcorn," Tsukishima murmured into her ear, and Mikaela shoved him.

"Quiet, quiet!" Daichi ordered as Atsumu bounded into the frame.

Mikaela wanted to laugh. The rest of the interview put them in a good light, and to her absolute delight, Atsumu visibly winced out of nowhere- that was when she'd stepped on his foot. Or something. She noticed Tsukishima stiffen beside her when Atsumu put an arm around her shoulders, but he visibly relaxed when Mikaela shook his arm off. Mikaela smiled to herself as the interview wrapped up.

The Karasuno team was near hysterics, with Sugawara still cackling about her horrified facial expression and Kageyama muttering bloody murder to Atsumu. Nishinoya and Tanaka were physically yelling at the television (she didn't have the heart to call them off) and Yamaguchi was laughing so hard he looked like he was losing his breath. Daichi was trying to calm everyone down, but to no avail.

 _God, I love this team._

* * *

The next day was the big game against Nekoma. Mikaela had never seen the team have so much fire in their eyes; especially Hinata, who seemed to still be running on the adrenaline from last night's game. Mikaela had meant to check on him last night, but from all the chaos that came with the interview on television, it had slipped her mind.

She'd tried to check on him this morning, but he'd seemed okay. With all the moving and shifting courts from practice to warm up to real game warm up, Mikaela had never got a chance to talk with him. He seemed fine, but if they played two games today, he might burn out faster than expected.

 _I hope it doesn't come to that._

The boys ran onto the court to start warming up, cheering loudly. Mikaela jogged over to Ukai. "Anything I can help with?"

He shook his head. "This game's a big one, but I think we're good for information this time around."

"Got it," she confirmed, mock-saluting him. "But if you want to dig into any of Kuroo's old girlfriends, I have them on speed dial."

"You're insane."

"Thank you."

"You know what? Go gather the stray volleyballs. And put them back in the cart. Or... Just go away and do something."

Mikaela grinned. "Why? So you don't feel tempted to use my information?"

Ukai rolled his eyes and shooed her away. "No, it's so that I can keep you busy. Shoo."

Mikaela laughed to herself and started making her laps of the court, grabbing the volleyballs that had rolled to the side and catching any stray spikes. She walked around the Nekoma court too- why not? She knew most of them, and they were friendly enough. She waved to Kenma, and he shrugged at her, which she supposed was actually pretty good for Kenma.

"Hey, Temper-san!" Kuroo called, waving. "How ya doing? No more wheelchair?"

She waved back, grinning. "Great! Nope, got rid of that ages ago!"

"Congrats on the successful surgery," Kai added as he walked by her. "Kuroo told us."

Mikaela frowned, shooting a sharp look at Kuroo, and he shrugged. "Hey, you were in a wheelchair, that was news. And news needs to be spread." When she narrowed her eyes at him, he sighed. "Dumbass, they all figured out it was because of your leg. You literally threw your leg at a guy, they can put two and two together."

"Yeah, great hit, by the way!" Lev called, flashing her a thumbs up as he passed.

"Well..." she sighed. "Ah, whatever. Thanks, Kai-san."

Kuroo jumped into a spike, and Mikaela snagged the flying volleyball as it zipped by her ear. She grabbed two more from the ground, trying carefully to maneuver them all to fit into her arms. A fourth rolled to a stop near her feet and she sighed, wondering if she could just kick it to the cart.

"Need a hand?"

Mikaela looked up and immediately smiled. "Tsukishima! Yes, please. Thanks."

He shrugged and took two of the volleyballs from her arms, and she bent down to scoop up the fourth one. "Here," he said, motioning with his arms. "I can just take them all back."

"Who are you and what have you done with Tsukishima?" Mikaela joked, piling the volleyballs into his arms.

"You want me to drop these?"

"No! You're just never this helpful."

"I'll drop them."

"Then we'll just be back to square one."

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows at her, then sighed and turned around, heading towards the volleyball cart. Mikaela sighed happily, her eyes lingering on his back as he walked away.

"Wait a second."

Mikaela turned and nearly jumped when she saw Kuroo perched a few feet away from her, right next to the net. "Kuroo! What the hell?"

Kuroo's eyes turned to Tsukishima, who was walking to the volleyball cart, then to Mikaela. Then back to Tsukishima, and then to Mikaela. His mouth opened and closed, and then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Wait a damn minute," he said, crossing his arms. "Are you two?..."

"Yeah," Mikaela confirmed, biting her lip. She couldn't stop the grin that was spreading across her face. "Yeah, we are."

"Hell yeah!" Kuroo yelled, and she nearly flinched from the sudden increase in volume. He turned back to the team, who had paused temporarily to see what he was yelling about. "You all owe me five hundred yen each!"

"Wait, actually?" Yamamoto said in disbelief, pointing to Mikaela. "They're together?"

"You bet on me and Tsukishima?" Mikaela said in disbelief.

Kuroo cackled. "Yep!"

The red-clad team collectively groaned, mumbling curses to Kuroo, and Mikaela was ready to smack the Nekoma captain when Yaku stepped forwards. "Wait!" the libero shouted, bounding over to Kuroo. "Was this before or during the tournament?"

Mikaela paused. "Like, when we got together?" Yaku nodded. "Does it matter?"

"Yes!"

"During, actually. On the first night."

 _"No!"_ Kuroo howled, grabbing his hair as Yaku held up his hands victoriously. "God _damn_ it, Yaku! How the hell did you know?"

"Dear lord," Mikaela grumbled, smacking herself in the forehead.

The whistle blew, drawing both teams to their benches. Mikaela gathered up the remainder of the volleyballs and pushed the cart away, waving quickly to the team and nodding to Ukai before she headed to the stands. Yesterday, she'd watched the game with Motoya and Sakusa- would there be anyone watching now that she knew?

Mikaela smirked to herself when she saw two familiar faces hovering by the scoreboard, eyes trained on the game. "Akaashi-san! Bokuto-san!" she called, waving.

Both Fukurodani players turned towards her voice. Bokuto's eyes immediately widened in recognition and he waved enthusiastically. "Ah! Karasuno's manager! Hi!"

"Hello," Akaashi greeted as she got closer.

She beamed. "Hey. You two watching the game?"

"Yeah, our game isn't until later," the setter said, turning to the court as the players set themselves up. "We thought this would be an interesting game, considering their... _rivalry_ at training camp."

"If you could call it that," Mikaela said with a laugh.

Bokuto laughed along with her, narrowing his bright eyes at the court. "You crows are different now, though. Right?"

"Right," she agreed. "It'll be a good game."

The first rally of the game was longer than most of their rallies against Inarizaki. Kageyama served, it was received, then Nekoma spiked and Nishinoya made a ridiculously nice save. Kageyama set it up to Tanaka, and even though he nailed the cross shot, Yamamoto still put it straight back up in the air. Daichi managed to keep it in the air when the cats spiked it back over, and Hinata's spike sealed the deal and earned Karasuno their first point.

"Woo!" Bokuto cheered, pumping his fists in the air.

"If all their rallies are that long, they're in for a rough game," Mikaela murmured to herself, crossing her arms.

Akaashi heard her and hummed in agreement. Nekoma scored the next point, and Mikaela could tell from the look at Kageyama's face that he was pissed off because his serve had been so easily received twice in a row. Lev's serve in the next point hit the top of the net and tumbled over, but Hinata managed to squeeze in and save it. After a series of plays, Nishinoya ended up setting to Asahi for the point.

"Your libero set that?" Bokuto asked in disbelief, squinting. "No way!"

"Wasn't a half bad set," Akaashi agreed.

Mikaela grinned. "Yeah, he's been working on that for a while."

The Fukurodani ace laughed. "I remember when he tried that at training camp and he couldn't even get the jump right!"

The next point rolled along, and Mikaela sighed to herself as Hinata, who was in a position to block, hesitated before jumping the right way. He'd been trying to analyze Kenma, and it had worked, but he'd been a bit too slow. _Huh. Never thought I'd use Hinata and slow in the same sentence._

"Kozume typically moves so little during a game," Akaashi said quietly. "It's easy to find yourself paying too much attention to his every move."

"I totally get that!" Bokuto exclaimed.

Mikaela rolled her eyes.

The next couple points ticked on by, and it felt like every point was longer than the last. Mikaela watched with interest as Tsukishima went up against Kuroo. She'd always held Tsukishima in her mind as one of the smartest blockers out there, but Kuroo definitely needled for that spot. Besides, Tsukishima learned what he did from Kuroo.

Kuroo roofed Daichi and the crowd went nuts. Mikaela sighed. "Asshole."

"That was a fluke!" Bokuto called out.

Akaashi sighed. "Just call it a good play, Bokuto-san." They all glanced at the court, where Kuroo and Tsukishima seemed to be talking with only the net separating them. "I bet Kuroo-san is saying something to get under Tsukishima's skin again."

No sooner had they said this did the two middle blockers glance up at the stands, where Mikaela was standing with Bokuto and Akaashi. Mikaela turned behind her, wondering if they were focused on someone else, then turned back around. By the time she'd turned back around, they were back into conversation, then setting up for the next point.

"Oi! What was that?" Bokuto asked loudly, leaning towards her. "They both just looked at you!"

She shrugged, her cheeks tinging red. "Beats me."

* * *

"Congrats, by the way," Kuroo taunted as the ball was passed to Nekoma's side of the court so that they could set up for the serve. "Glad she finally worked up the nerve."

Tsukishima's eyes widened. "You knew?"

"You shoulda seen the way she talked about you, moron." They both glanced up at the stands, where Mikaela was standing with Bokuto and Akaashi. Tsukishima pursed his lips, his eyes flitting from Mikaela back to Kuroo. She talked about him? To Kuroo, of all people?

He huffed. "Thanks, Kuroo-san."

His senpai shrugged, and then his gaze hardened. "And if you hurt her," Kuroo threatened, glaring at Tsukishima, "we _will_ have problems."

Tsukishima sighed. "Why does everyone keep threatening me? It's not like I'm in this to hurt her."

"No," Kuroo agreed as the whistle blew, signalling for Nekoma to serve, "but there's a lot of people who care about her. That's all."

And for that, Tsukishima was grateful.

* * *

The points went by, and Karasuno had just hit double digits when Ukai put in Yamaguchi as a pinch server. Yamaguchi got a service ace, and Mikaela screamed so loudly that Akaashi flinched in surprise. By the time she was done apologizing, Yamaguchi had served again, and Tsukishima got a kill block to put Karasuno four points ahead.

"Bah ha ha!" Bokuto cackled, pointing at the court. "Didja see that, Akaashi?! Didja see what our Tsukki did?!"

"Tsukishima is not 'ours', Bokuto-san," Akaashi said with a tired sigh. "But yes. I did see."

"That was so good," Mikaela said dreamily, grinning. "He's gotten so much better lately." She turned to Bokuto and lightly punched his arm. "A huge part of that is thanks to you and Kuroo, actually. Thank you."

"Aha! You hear that, Akaashi?" he said proudly, puffing out his chest. "He _is_ ours!"

"That's not what she said, Bokuto-san."

The points went back and forth, but Nekoma was creeping up on the lead that Karasuno had. It was when Nekoma scored, making it 15 - 14 for Karasuno, did Akaashi casually mention, "I think Nekoma's defense is almost completely set up."

From what Mikaela had extensively gathered about Nekoma, they were slow starters. They normally dropped the first set or won it in overtime points just so they could analyze their opponents and adapt their defense accordingly. Sure, they'd played Karasuno dozens of times before, but they were a new team now. It was odd for Nekoma to be set up so early.

That, and Hinata wasn't doing as well this game. And she wanted to figure out why, because she was positive that Nekoma- specifically, Kenma- had something to do with it.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind did Kageyama make a ridiculous set to Hinata, who punched the ball through and shattered Nekoma's defense. "There we go," Mikaela said with a sigh. "About time."

"Yep! Kageyama is still a twisted jerk!" Bokuto said, putting his hands on his hips.

"Don't forget Hinata," the Fukurodani setter added, his mouth pinched in a line. "Being that far in on his approach already isn't the work of a sane man. He's warped too."

Mikaela nodded along. The score was 16 - 14 for Karasuno, but she still had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Kageyama's serve curved wickedly in midair (it was because he twisted his foot before he jumped off. Just like she'd thought) and landed out, and Mikaela could see the relief on the Nekoma receiver's face. Next, Lev was up to serve, but his serve hit the top of the net and didn't quite make it over.

"He's gotten a let serve or two so far," Akaashi mused, shifting in his spot. "It's no surprise he hit the net."

Mikaela hummed in agreement, then straightened up.

It clicked.

"He's targeting Shoyo," she said aloud, glancing up at Akaashi. "That's what they're doing. They're trapping Hinata."

"Come again?" he asked, cocking his head.

Mikaela pointed at the court, where the next point was underway. "Lev's never been great at serves. In fact, at the last training camp, he was working on serves, and he was going for power. Hell, I even watched him try a few wonky jump serves that never worked. So if he was no longer practicing for power, what else would he be practicing for?"

"Accuracy," Bokuto answered, his eyes trained on the court. "Though power's way cooler."

"Right," the manager replied, ignoring Bokuto's remark. "Okay, whatever. He's going for let serves. But all four of his last serves have been aimed at that same spot, and Hinata's been forced to receive three of them."

"He's not bad at receiving, though," Akaashi pointed out.

"True, and that's probably why he doesn't even realize it's happening. But if he has to jump forward and receive a ball close to the net, then he can't get his run up in. And that's the only way he's able to spike, right? He needs to get the space to jump or else he can barely make the net."

Bokuto's loud shout of exclamation nearly made her jump. "They're stopping his run up so he can't do his quick set!"

"Yeah," Mikaela said, eyes fluttering to the scoreboard as the numbers kept climbing. "I noticed he's been receiving a lot in this game- more than normal. Then you mentioned Lev's serve and it clicked."

"Interesting," Akaashi said quietly, frowning. "That's clever. As to be expected of Nekoma."

"Hinata, just..." Mikaela sighed, slapping her hands against her face and dragging them down her cheeks. "Ugh! Hinata, just... run sideways or something!"

The score climbed higher and higher, with Nekoma gradually closing in on Karasuno's lead. The serves to Hinata were becoming more and more obvious, and Mikaela wanted to throw something at the court- Nekoma was so _fricking_ annoying and Mikaela could've strangled Kenma if she got the chance. The strategy was good, and a part of Mikaela was impressed, but right now she was trying to focus on how Karasuno could counter it.

Kuroo stuffed Tanaka to tie the score at 23 all. After two consecutive serves that landed out, the set was going into overtime. After an insanely long rally in which Asahi spiked the ball three times (once as a block crusher, once as a tip, and finally punched it through and got a waterfall block), Karasuno finally managed to take the point, 25 - 24. But to Mikaela's chagrin, Nekoma pulled off three points in a row to take the set.

And, to make matters worse, the last point was scored because everyone on the court was too busy moving into position to jump. The ball thudded to the court between Tanaka and Daichi, and the crowd went wild.

"You're kidding," Mikaela said in disbelief, tugging at the end of her ponytail. "What the hell was that?"

Akaashi was lost for words. Bokuto burst into laughter. "Karasuno, that was great!"

"That was terrifying," his partner muttered, shaking his head.

"I hate Nekoma," she grumbled.

The players on the court started setting up for the second set. Mikaela pursed her lips together, wondering what Karasuno was going to do about Nekoma's obvious strategy to shut down Hinata. They could take Hinata out of the serving rotation, sure, but... still, how could they counter it? Could Hinata just do slide attacks? Or...

The rallies dragged on longer on longer, and Mikaela could see the exhaustion settling in. With heavy feet, Karasuno kept dragging themselves into synchronized attacks, and after repeated diving saves, Nekoma would finally crack and the ball would get through. Kageyama finally managed to nail a service ace, and the team's momentum began to build. Tanaka managed to hit a service ace too, putting the team up by four points.

The momentum seemed to come to a grinding halt when Hinata did a slide attack and spiked the ball out of bounds. Karasuno took a timeout, but the damage was already done. "That's rough," Mikaela said, frowning.

Akaashi hummed in agreement. "Hinata may start getting frustrated."

"I know I would," Bokuto agreed.

The game continued. Points trickled by, and Mikaela could see the excitement on Hinata's face start to give way for frustration. It was understandable, sure, but if Karasuno didn't find a way to deal with it soon, they'd be screwed.

Sure enough, just like in set one, Nekoma closed the gap and tied the game up at 19 all. "Come on, Kags," Mikaela grumbled under her breath. Unfortunately, the next point went to Nekoma when Asahi hit his spike out of bounds. Nekoma pulled ahead for the first time all set. "Holy crap."

"Morisuke's the type of receiver that can kill a spiker without touching the ball," Bokuto said, his face scrunching up in disgust.

"You mean Yaku?"

"Yeah. That shot was open, but your ace didn't take it 'cause Morisuke was there."

Karasuno managed to tie it up at 21, but after a long rally in which Hinata accidentally slipped when trying to run up, Nekoma got a block point off Tanaka to take the lead.

"If they don't figure out a way to open up Hinata, they're going to lose," Mikaela said quietly, biting her lip.

Bokuto nudged her. "Game's not over yet!"

The next point was the strangest that she'd seen all day. Tanaka lunged to receive the serve, cutting off Hinata, and Kageyama moved to set. Mikaela could hear him shout "Open!" from the side, and she watched in awe as Kageyama just put the ball up. Not anywhere specific, just put it straight up in the center of the court. No target in mind. Hinata seemed to just stare at the ball for a second before he clued in that he had time to move, and he jumped higher than Mikaela had ever seen him go before. Although the timing was a bit off, Hinata still tipped the ball over and got the point.

"He's so grown up," she said abruptly.

Akaashi's lips twitched. "Come again, Mikaela-chan?"

"Tobio- I mean, Kageyama- has always been about speed. His crazy precision at high speeds has been his strength as a setter." Mikaela paused, watching her cousin move to serve. "And he just tossed the slowest set in history. He put his full faith in Hinata to score. He didn't pick anything else, he didn't even consider the fact that Asahi was halfway into his jump."

"Never seen him do that before?"

Mikaela shook her head. "He's not a prisoner to speed anymore. I can't believe how much he's grown."

Akaashi nodded. "That's mildly terrifying."

She laughed. "He's only going up from here."

The next point, Kageyama did an open toss again, and this time Hinata nailed it home. Mikaela was impressed; Kageyama had mentioned that he'd been working on his high jumps, and it seemed like they were paying off. Nekoma made a substitution, which ended up making their blocking line up taller, but Hinata just tooled the block and got a perfect block out.

The score was 24 - 24 when Nekoma subbed in a pinch server, and Mikaela groaned. "Just win the set already, please."

And they did.

The pinch server did a ceiling serve, but Tanaka still received it fine (mostly) and after a decent rally, Asahi punched the ball through and got the point. In the next point, when Yamamoto pulled off a perfect line shot, Hinata zipped into position to receive and got pounded in the chest, sending the ball flying back over the net. No one on Nekoma was in position to receive, and Karasuno got the point. The second set was theirs.

"Yes!" Mikaela screamed as the crowd erupted into chaos. "They got it!"

"I can't believe how that ended," Akaashi said with a shake of his head.

Bokuto laughed. "Hinata, scoring with a receive, off Nekoma, of all teams? That's great!"

His laughter was contagious, and Mikaela found herself laughing along with him. The irony was fantastic. As Bokuto had pointed out, the fact that _Hinata_ had been the one to score, when they'd been trying to shut him down all game, and he'd scored with a receive, made the point that much better.

The third set kicked off with a bang. Between service aces, powerful spikes, and ridiculous receives, Mikaela was on edge the entire time. Tsukishima and Kuroo were going head to head with blocks, and when Tsukishima did a high quick over the center to score the point, Mikaela beamed to herself. Tsukishima was down there, and he was smiling. _Smiling._ She never thought she'd see a day where Tsukishima was enjoying volleyball, especially in the third set of a game.

In the next point, Kenma tried to go for a setter dump, and both Hinata and Nishinoya lunged. However, Hinata moved to block it, and Nishinoya was diving to receive it. Hinata got a piece of it, sending it much further than Nishinoya could reach.

"Oh my god!" she cried out as Nishinoya managed to kick the ball with the back of his heel and send it straight up in a perfect set. Kageyama put it up for Asahi, who got the point. "Oh my god, it worked!"

From the ground, Nishinoya glanced up at her and grinned. She grinned back at him, flashing him a thumbs up. "That was the most ridiculous receive I've ever seen," Akaashi said, bewildered.

Bokuto nodded, grinning. "That's crazy!"

"We've been working on foot saves," Mikaela said excitedly, bouncing from foot to foot. "We worked with the soccer team on it. God! I can't believe it worked!"

"Hey, Bokuto-san, we've got to get going," Akaashi said, holding up his phone and displaying the time. "We've got to go warm up."

"Alrighty. See you later, Mikaela!" Bokuto said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Come watch our game later!"

"Absolutely," she agreed, waving to both of them. "Good luck!"

The Fukurodani players waved to her and left for their own warm up, and the rest of the set seemed to fly by. Yamaguchi came in as a pinch server, then Sugawara was subbed in later. The game was close most of the way through, but Karasuno started to pull ahead near the tail end. Hinata was whipping out every trick he had, and Mikaela was surprised at how Kenma was doing. Despite looking like he wanted to collapse, he was going after Hinata like a cat to a mouse.

Karasuno hit the twenty point mark first, at 20 - 17. If they could keep this up, the win was theirs. How they were going to play another game today, Mikaela had no idea. The points went back and forth, but Karasuno was keeping their lead.

They were up 24 - 22 when Kenma went to set and the ball slipped.

It must've been sweat, but Mikaela's jaw still dropped in surprise as the ball fell to court, winning Karasuno the set. Both sides of the court seemed to collapse, falling to the ground in exhaustion. Mikaela's heart ached for Kuroo, but she was unbelievably proud of her team. They'd never gotten a set off of Nekoma, let alone two.

She made sure to congratulate everyone on the good match, including the Nekoma team, when she met up with them on the court floor. "Good game, good game," Mikaela repeated, hugging various members of the Karasuno team. She noticed Nekoma walking by, and after excusing herself, bounded over to talk to them. "Great game," she said honestly, smiling at Kuroo.

He smirked. "Yeah, it was. Thanks, kiddo."

"Enough with the kiddo business. I'm two years younger than you."

"Still younger, though. Therefore, a child."

Mikaela scowled, punching him in the shoulder. "You'll stay and watch, right? I get lonely."

"Of course," Kuroo replied immediately. "As long as I get to annoy you."

"Fine, fine."

"Hey, Kaisha!" Mikaela turned to see Hinata, bouncing from foot to foot. "Wanna go get food?"

"Sure," she agreed. She turned back to Kuroo and waved. "Catch you later?"

"Sure," he replied, shrugging.

The manager turned and jogged after Hinata, who was weaving through the crowd like nobody's business. "Shoyo!" Mikaela called, laughing. "Wait up!" She understood his enthusiasm, though: they were playing another game today. That was a dream for Hinata- and Kageyama too. They had another game to play.

Actually, not quite: they had another game to _win_.

* * *

 **WOOT WOOT WE MADE IT TO 50 Y'ALL THIS IS SUCH A MILESTONE**

 **Originally, Machino was going to air the interview live that morning right after she took it, but the whole thing with Miya Atsumu was too priceless to share on early morning television with limited viewers, which is why she waited until the evening. Fun! ;)**

 **hannymae:** PLEASE SLEEP it feels like every time you review you're in some insane hour of the morning XD That's cool how you found Haikyuu after volleyball! I'm thinking about getting into volleyball but I barely have enough time to write, let alone go play XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** Aww thank you so much! You're too sweet T^T Aha I'm glad you're enjoying the sassy comments and that it keeps getting better! Thank you so so much for your review! :)

 **Padgent:** Aw thank you! I thought the Miya Atsumu bit would be a cute touch and I'm glad people seemed to like it! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Averi-nova:** It was such a good suggestion that I had to ;) Thanks for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Aw thank you! I'm so glad you liked it, thank you for your review! :D

 **luvielle:** Oh my goodness thank you! Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed, I hope you're enjoying the manga too! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Anne Nonimus:** You're so sweet, thank you so much! I'm so glad you liked it! Yeah, my update-once-a-week isn't going too well- I'm aiming for once every two weeks. I've been pretty good with it so far! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** Yeah, the manga matches go on for a while, which I'm grateful for (the attention to detail is unparalleled) but for the sake of my fanfic, I'm trying to sweep through the matches. If y'all have read the manga, you already know what's happening XD Thank you for your review! :)

 **bellamario:** Aha thank you! Thank you for your review! :D

 **Yamamoto:** I'm glad you liked that part! I was hesitant about adding it but people seemed to like it, which I'm grateful for! Thank you for your review! :)

 **imaginesakura:** Oh my... you're too sweet T^T Thank you so much! I'm so so glad that you're so hooked into this, I never thought I'd find so many people following Mikaela's journey! No, actually, I never had a pairing planned from the start! I always thought about it but I wanted to prioritize Mikaela's development, and as I got further into writing her story, I started considering it. I actually considered Yamaguchi temporarily, but I liked their dynamic better as friends, and I wanted to challenge myself with Tsukishima! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Elsa:** I'm glad I've persuaded you to start appreciating Atsumu ;) He's a bit of an asshole, sure, but that's part of his 'lovable' charm, right? I'll see if I can incorporate him into further chapters. I'm glad you enjoying the story, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Tribble. Chan:** Awwwww I'm so glad you liked it T^T I'm trying hard to incorporate that relationship into the story but I keep having to smack myself and say "no, romance isn't the genre" but I can't help but leave some of the cute bits in! Here's the Kuroo reaction, with a second betting pool, as requested ;) Thank you so so much for your review! :D

 **LouTheStarSpeaker:** I have such a hard time finding good OC stories, so I understand where you're coming from, and I'm so glad you consider mine to be one of the good ones! That means so much! Yes, Mikaela's personal growth was my first priority, but I'm really happy with how the romance part developed! Most of the OC stories I see are focused on romance so I wanted to try something different (although I do have moments where I have to drag myself back to my main priorities... XD). Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Kimiko:** You're too kind, you're going to make me cry T^T Thank you so much! Your compliments are so kind and mean so much! Yeah, I've got a bad habit of dragging the mean/shitty/rude characters through the mud and trying to make something good out of them... it's been so so hard to do with Tsukishima but it feels like it's paying off! THANK YOU. Thank you so much for your kind words and the fact that you can empathize with Mikaela's backstory at certain parts makes me want to hug you ;-; Best of luck in school! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **TF Volt:** Aw, thank you! Thank you so much! :)

 **Also I was rereading this story and I noticed like seven chapters ago I was like "wow! Thanks for 300 followers!" and now I'm sitting here at 475. What the heck. Like... what. The heck. THANK YOU. Thank you all so so much. Your kindness and support is overwhelming.**


	51. The Fever

**Thank you so much to Padgent, Zoreux, luvielle, Averi-nova, Sayori1412, Kyion, Swaggishima, jily shiper, sndlr, Elsa, bbymojo, Shadow Wolf 15846, Uzutail, Sadashi, ScarletSea, LKJin, S-C-P411, TheNotSoNinjaReader, clia130, gloriious, WilfulClient97, whitewizard97, Gissung, winter rose-chan, yuki0123, LegacyLegend, Linamia, 13, .xX, zrinnamaria, haveyoutriedthecake, shis23, Blushing Green Apple, Keelan1210, Viperbite4, nosenseorgravity, nt14xo, SunniKing, Animenerddrop, rfec0021, Luna Midi, Maddinyah, Reinaa, StressedButWellDressed, drippingmoonwax, Akina54, Boba Lover, silvernakami, RandomMe66, KaterinaVentosa, beanmc26, sikazi, BookQn, fanasaurus12, Yikes I'm Ashamed, bluebye, joonhee, TorenterLuna, jsandrewtiong, fangirl4849, Liqura, CollegeGirl2018, WhiteArcobaleno, acid. trees, ennochikara, LeyxKei, and I'mFangirl7 for your incredible support!**

* * *

She should've seen it coming. She definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent should've expected the chaos that unfolded after that interview was televised.

"Excuse me? Are you Mikaela Kaisha?"

 _Ah, shit._

Mikaela inhaled, trying to suck in all of her frustration and bury it down into her body. She turned around, forcing a smile onto her face. "Yeah. What's up?"

"Oh my god, it's really you!" a girl squealed. She had faded red hair and was standing next to a boy with spiky brown hair- he'd been the one to call her out initially. She clasped her hands together and bowed. "It's nice to meet you!"

She exhaled through her nose and forced the smile to stay on her face. "Thanks. What's your name?"

"Me? I'm Suka," the girl said happily, tugging on the sleeve of her companion. "And this is Tsurio!" The boy grinned sheepishly and held up his hand in a wave.

"Nice to meet you both."

"Can we- can we get a picture with you?" the boy, Tsurio, asked, tentatively holding up his phone. "If that's okay with you?"

Mikaela shrugged. "Sure."

The pair exchanged a grin and pulled up next to her, one on either side. Tsurio held out his phone in selfie mode, and Suka squeezed in on the other side of Mikaela to fit into the picture. She forced a smile and held up a peace sign as the camera went off a few times, and she sighed in relief when he turned it off and tucked it in his pocket. They bowed to her and she waved good bye before they tore off into the crowd, giggling to each other.

She trudged back to the stands, where Tsukishima was curled up under his jacket. He'd been napping before, but he seemed to be awake now. "Another one?" he asked, amused.

Mikaela groaned, plopping herself down next to him. "That makes the fourth today."

"You asked for this when you reposted the video," Tsukishima reminded her. "Dumbass."

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in."

Honestly? A part of Mikaela enjoyed the attention. People knew who she was (even if it wasn't for the reasons she had hoped) and for the most part, the people who worked up the nerve to talk to her were kind and respected her space. She'd seen Miya Atsumu here earlier, and from the looks of it, fans were recognizing him too.

She'd even been _tagged_ in some of these posts online. The captions were typically something like "guess who we met!" or something like that. Mikaela sighed to herself and slumped into her seat, tipping her head to rest on Tsukishima's shoulder.

"Tired?"

"Yeah."

He scoffed. "You didn't just play one of the most exhausting games of your life. You're not allowed to be tired."

Mikaela laughed. "One down, one to go. And it's Kamomedai."

"This is going to be exhausting," Tsukishima said with a groan. "And we still have two more days of this? I'm going to need a week of sleep to recuperate."

She hummed in agreement, then something in his wording caused her to do a double take. "Hey, wait," she said, sitting up and pulling her head off of his shoulder. "You're already counting the next two days? You think we're going to finals?"

Tsukishima seemed to realize his mistake, because he scowled and turned away from her, pulling his jacket up over his chin. "Well, with this insane crowd, maybe," he grumbled.

"Aw, Tsukishima!" Mikaela said with a laugh, enjoying Tsukishima's embarrassment. "Look at how optimistic you are!"

"Absolutely not. Shut up."

"It's cute!"

"No, it's not."

She grinned devilishly, poking him in the ribs. "I'm loving the optimism. I'll make sure to report it to Daichi right away."

He groaned. "You're so annoying. Just let me sleep."

Mikaela hummed to herself and leaned in to kiss him briefly on the cheek. "I'll go bother some other people. Get some rest."

"I was trying, but _someone_ felt the need to come bother me," Tsukishima retorted, his face darkening after her lips touched his cheek. He pulled up his jacket before reaching to his bag, probably to rummage around for an eye mask. "Idiot."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll see you later."

He mumbled his response, sliding the mask over his eyes, and Mikaela got up from her seat. She turned to the stairs and started jogging up the steps, passing Daichi, Sugawara, and Asahi. She waved to them and they tiredly waved back. As soon as her eyes landed on him, she made a beeline for the coach, who was talking to Takeda.

He noticed her approaching and nodded to her. "How're the boys?"

"Tired, with the exception of Hinata and Kageyama," Mikaela reported with a laugh. "I swear, those two never run out of energy."

"Are they resting, at least?" Takeda asked, his eyebrows furrowing together.

She nodded. "As much as they're willing to, at least." Both of the adults sighed; she'd guessed that they were used to it by now. That would have to do for now. "When will we be regrouping for discussing Kamomedai?"

Ukai glanced at Takeda and shrugged. "Not for another hour, probably."

"So are you good if I go watch a game for a bit?"

"Have you given out all the lunch boxes? Checked on everyone?"

"Yep."

"Sure, I don't see why not. Just make sure you're back in an hour."

"Sure thing. Thanks Coach!" Mikaela bowed to both of them and spun on her heel, walking past another row of seats. She waved to Tanaka and Nishinoya as she walked by them, and paused when she went by Kageyama. He was writing in his journal, and part of her wanted to leave him be, but he glanced up when he noticed her. "Whatcha up to?"

He shrugged, holding up his book. "Journal. You?"

"I was going to watch the end of the Niiyama game. Want to come?"

"Yeah, sure." Kageyama tucked the book into his bag and shoved his bag under the seat with the rest of the Karasuno bags. "You going to talk to them?"

Mikaela bit her lip, waiting for him to stand before she started walking. He fell into step next to her. "I think so," she replied honestly. "If they'll listen. I feel like I have a lot of explaining to do."

He frowned. "You don't owe them anything."

"I know, but..." she huffed. "Still. I'd rather them hear it from me."

They stayed quiet until they reached the court where the Niiyama girls were playing. From the set count, it was the second set, but Niiyama had taken the first. They were up 18 to 17 right now, and they were up to serve. Mikaela found herself searching subconsciously for Kinomi, and felt a sick sense of satisfaction when she saw her on the bench. _We're not rivals anymore. I shouldn't be petty._

Kageyama nudged her shoulder. "Doesn't look like there's many seats open."

Mikaela surveyed the crowd with her eyes. Her cousin was right- which wasn't a surprise. Niiyama was a popular team, so it wasn't a surprise that they had a popular following. "That's fine, I'm okay with standing."

"Want to walk near the front?"

"Sure."

Carefully, they shifted through the crowded seats and down the aisles until they were next to the court. Mikaela blinked as the red and white flash of the Niiyama uniform zipped across the court, performing a beautiful slide attack that the other team couldn't quite receive on time. She sighed wistfully. _I can't wait to play._

Kageyama jerked his chin at the bench. "That's Kinomi, right?"

"Yeah," she confirmed, glancing at the blonde. Almost as if she'd heard them, Kinomi turned towards the side, where they were standing and watching. When her eyes landed on Mikaela, her face narrowed and pinched into a glare. Mikaela refused to allow herself to be intimidated; she glared right back. Kinomi tore her eyes away as Niiyama nailed a service ace, putting them up 20 to 18.

"You don't have to pick a fight with everyone."

"You're such a hypocrite."

They watched the rest of the set play out. Impressively, the other team caught up to tie the game at 21, but Niiyama still managed to secure the win, 26 - 24. Mikaela clapped along with the rest of the audience as the Niiyama girls celebrated, clapping each other on the back and hugging before they moved to shake hands. Her eyes remained fixated on the captain as she led the line, then took the team into a bow.

The audience started moving. Most people stood up from their seats, headed up the stairs- presumably to find another court with a different game to watch. Mikaela stayed at the side, with Kageyama next to her. The girls were gathering their stuff and clearing off the court as the next two teams ran on, ready to warm up.

"We should go," Mikaela said suddenly.

Kageyama frowned. "I thought you wanted to talk to them."

"They're busy. Besides-" she cut herself off as the Niiyama captain coincidentally turned their way. "Shit."

The tall, blonde woman turned from Mikaela to her coach, and Mikaela watched as the coach glanced her way, her eyebrows rising. "Too late," Kageyama said with a shrug, and Mikaela kicked him. The Niiyama coach nodded, and the captain turned back to Mikaela and started walking towards her. _Shit, this was a bad idea._ Mikaela swallowed nervously as she got closer. _You can do this. You can do this._

She stopped. The only thing separating Mikaela from her old captain was a stupid three foot stand with a corny advertisement on it. "Mikaela-chan," she said formally, standing tall at over six feet.

 _God,_ she felt short all of a sudden. "Captain."

"Not anymore."

"I guess not."

The blonde woman crossed her arms, and in Mikaela's periphery, she saw the rest of the Niiyama team hovering close, some of them within earshot. "You left without warning, leaving nothing but a burning gym in your wake, and no explanation for your actions," the Niiyama captain said firmly, and Mikaela felt chills run down her spine. "Surely you can't expect immediate kindness."

Mikaela straightened up, trying to appear taller than she was. "I'm aware."

"Then you must be aware of the consequences of your actions." The manager frowned, confused, but she forged on. "I lent you those keys, trusting that you would act responsibly. I-"

"I'm sorry," Mikaela snapped immediately, eyes hardening, "next time I'll steer the truck away from the gym. Or move the gym a couple dozen feet away from the road. Or make sure the truck doesn't carry gasoline. Or make sure other drivers aren't on the road."

"Kaisha," Kageyama warned quietly.

She grimaced, regaining control of herself. "Sorry. I'm just still stuck on the part where you think the gym accident was my fault."

The captain glared at her. "I chose my wording poorly. I know there was nothing you could do about the..." Her eyes drifted to Mikaela's legs, covered by her track pants. "... _unfortunate_ accident that occurred. However, we would have preferred some clarity of your intentions after the accident."

"I understand," she forced out, internally trying to stop herself from snapping _that's none of your business._ "I know I should've, at the very least, informed you of my status and my plans."

"But you didn't."

 _How observant of you._

"No. And that's on me."

"Obviously."

 _God, I've had enough._ "I'm going to return to being a player next year," Mikaela announced firmly, loudly enough that the eavesdroppers could hear her. "But that won't be at Niiyama."

"Really?" the captain said, surprised. "I would've expected an attempt to return."

Mikaela gestured pathetically with her hands. "There you go. That's exactly why. Me coming back to Niiyama would be nothing more than an _attempt_ to get back on the team. I don't gel very well with the team, and I think there are other teams that I would suit significantly more."

"So what's your plan?"

"My plan?" Mikaela crossed her arms and looked her ex-captain in the eye. "I'm going to play on the Karasuno team, and we're going to kick your ass."

Kageyama kicked the back of her heel, but Mikaela ignored him. She stared defiantly at the captain, and watched with surprise as her frown twisted into a smirk. "We accept your challenge," she said firmly, holding out her hand.

Mikaela shook it. No going back now.

"Good luck with the rest of your games," she added, letting go of the blonde woman's hand. "I'm sure you'll be in the finals."

"Thank you," the Captain replied. She nodded respectfully to her, then cast a long glance at Kageyama. She turned, heading back to her team. Mikaela didn't try to look at anyone else on the team; she turned on her heel and started weaving through the crowd, with Kageyama right behind her.

They navigated through the throng of people, passing several stands selling shirts and other merchandise. As soon as they managed to make more space in the crowd, Kageyama sidled up next to her. "That went well."

She shrugged. "It went as well as I thought it would. She's a reasonable person."

"She wasn't reasonable when she blamed the gym accident on you."

Mikaela snorted. "It wasn't so much that as it just backfired on her, because she's the one who lent me the keys in the first place. I can imagine how that looked on her part. The way she phrased it was just..." She shook her head. "Wrong."

Kageyama nodded, shifting past someone in order to stay side by side with her. "Fair."

They walked in silence for most of the way back, and just when the Karasuno team was in sight, Mikaela laughed dryly, the memory tumbling into her head. "I blamed myself for the accident once," she said, shaking her head.

"Why? There's nothing you could've done."

She shrugged. "I was in the hospital. I was upset, and then I was mad. I needed someone to blame, and sometimes, the easiest person is yourself, right? The blame lasted all of two minutes before Dad scraped that for me."

Kageyama slowed. "He did?"

"Yeah. I brought it up or something. Said it was karma, something dumb like that. Dad laughed, then said that to blame it on myself is to say that you're the only one that could've changed the outcome. It made me think."

"Your dad was a good guy."

"He was," Mikaela said, sighing wistfully. "Thanks, Tobio."

He shrugged. "I miss him."

"Me too."

"He'd be proud of you."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

A beat.

Mikaela sighed softly and leaned towards Kageyama, pressing her cheek into his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist. Kageyama brought his arms around her shoulders, keeping a loose hold. "Thank you," she mumbled.

He didn't reply. Kageyama waited for a moment before he let go, pulling away from her. Reluctantly, Mikaela pushed herself away. "Let's go," he said, staring her in the eye. "We have a game to win."

Mikaela swallowed. "Yeah. We do."

 _Kamomedai._

 _Let's bring it on._

* * *

Mikaela met up with Saeko and the other two adults when the game started- Takinoue and Shimada, if she remembered correctly. When she found them in the stands and moved up next to them, she noticed Akiteru approaching the group, along with another man by his side. The guy had shaggy dark hair and seemed like he was slouched over. From the looks of it, he was shorter than she was.

Before Mikaela could ask who he was, Saeko whipped off her coat to show her taiko uniform. "Alright, let's get fired up!" she yelled, and the crowd cheered from behind her. The older Tanaka turned back to Mikaela, grinning. "Ready?"

"Yep," she lied, leaning onto the railing. She nudged Saeko with her elbow and jerked her chin at the guy next to Akiteru. "Who's that?"

"An old classmate of mine," she replied. "He used to play. You know how Shoyo idolizes the Little Giant?"

Mikaela nodded, then her jaw dropped. "Wait, that's him?"

Saeko grinned. "Yep! He said he was in the area and that he wanted to swing by when he heard Karasuno was in the quarters."

Off the very first point, Hinata nailed a quick set over the heads of the three ridiculously tall blockers- one of them was over six and a half feet tall. Mikaela grinned as the ball hit the ground with a satisfying smack, giving Karasuno the first point. "Let's go, let's go, Shoyo! Shoyo!" Saeko called, and her group cheered along with her. Mikaela resisted the urge to plug her ears.

Hoshiumi hit them back with a ridiculously high spike that seemed to go over the blockers, and then Kamomedai got a block point to go up, 2 - 1. Tanaka got the next point, and Saeko's group went wild again. Mikaela flinched from the sudden noise.

"Hey, Kaisha!"

She barely caught the words over the noise, but she glanced to her right and saw Akiteru waving at her. He beckoned her over and she slipped past Saeko, moving toward Tsukishima's brother. "Hey!" she squeaked out over the noise.

He laughed. "Pretty loud, ain't it?"

"Just a bit!"

"Here, let's slide over a bit," his friend said, the one who Saeko called the Little Giant. The three of them shuffled over slightly, relieving Mikaela's ears but not distancing them from the group. "Hi! I'm Tenma Udai, I used to play for Karasuno," he introduced, holding out his hand.

"I know," Mikaela replied, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Tenma's eyebrows rose, and Akiteru laughed. "This is Mikaela, she's our second manager. She stalks people."

Mikaela scowled as Tanaka served the ball into the net, making it 3 - 2 for Kamomedai. "I do not. I collect information."

"Stalking," Akiteru confirmed, and Tenma laughed. "Seriously though, she's great. She's a player."

"You are?" the Little Giant asked, and Mikaela nodded. "Why're you a manager, then?"

"Injured," she replied as Hinata scored with another quick set. The Kamomedai blockers were ridiculously fast, and Mikaela had to tear her eyes away from the court to focus on the conversation. "Took a year off. I'm getting back into it now."

"Udai-kun, you know that she's the one in that viral video, eh?" Akiteru said with a laugh.

Tenma blinked, and Mikaela resisted the urge to smack her head off the railing. "What one?"

"The leg throw?"

"Holy, that was you?"

She scowled at Tsukishima's older brother. "Really? You just had to say it?"

Akiteru grinned sheepishly. "I just enjoy embarrassing my future sister-in-law, sorry."

Mikaela stopped short, and her jaw slipped open. She hadn't told Akiteru that she and Tsukishima were together (yet), and if he already knew, then... did Tsukishima tell him? He actually told his brother? Had he told his mom? She hadn't told her mom. Not that there was a problem with that, but she hadn't expected Tsukishima to tell his brother- he seemed like the type to keep it to himself. Did he actually-

"Wait, she's dating your little brother?" Tenma asked in disbelief.

"Nah, just joking around," he replied, wrapping an arm around Mikaela's shoulders. "She's over so often that she may as well be family. They're not dating though. Right, Kaisha?"

Her mouth was open, but no sound came up. Her cheeks were burning, and she was sure that she must've been cherry red. Tenma glanced from her to Akiteru and back again, his lips quirking into a smirk.

Akiteru noticed the awkward silence and glanced down at Mikaela. "...Right, Kaisha?" She pursed her lips together, which was enough of a response for him. "Wait, what?"

"We..." Mikaela cleared her throat, continuing as quietly as she could. "We're dating."

 _"What?!"_

Both Mikaela and Tenma flinched from Akiteru's shriek, but his surprise was directed at them for no longer than a second before he swung towards the court, where Karasuno was moving into their rotation for the next point. "Don't do it," Mikaela mumbled under her breath.

 _"Kei!"_ Akiteru yelled, leaning so far over the railing that Tenma had to seize his jacket and pull him back. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

Tsukishima glanced up at the stands, his face already displaying his disgust with the outburst. When he saw Mikaela shrinking into the railing and comprehended the context of the situation, he frowned and raised an eyebrow at her. Mikaela shrugged sheepishly and mouthed "sorry", but he just scoffed and turned back to the court. Mikaela sighed, sinking her chin into her chest. Was he mad? She'd have to explain afterwards.

"Akiteru-kun, calm down," Tenma urged, pulling him back. "It's-"

"This is a huge deal!" Akiteru squabbled, seizing Mikaela's shoulders. "When did this happen?!"

"Two days ago?"

"It's been _that long_ and you didn't tell me?!"

"That's not that long, Akiteru-"

He cut Tenma off, letting go of Mikaela and dragging his hands down the sides of his face. "Oh my god," he moaned, his eyes sparkling. _Is he going to cry? Oh, shit._ "My little brother, dating someone," Akiteru said, choking back a sob. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Sorry?" Mikaela offered.

"No, this is great, this is great," he said, shaking himself. He seemed to be calming down, so Tenma released his jacket. "I'm sorry, I just... I'm so happy, oh my god. I never thought Kei would ever date anyone. He was always so lonely, I thought he'd die alone with his dinosaur collection-"

"Dinosaur collection?" she mumbled, glancing at Tenma. The old Little Giant just shrugged helplessly.

"And you're literally perfect for him," Akiteru continued, and Mikaela felt herself blush again. "I've been rooting for this since the day I met you. God, Kaisha..." he exhaled shakily and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so happy for you. I think this is the happiest day of my life."

She laughed shakily, surprised by the enthusiasm. "Thanks. I'm glad you think it's okay."

"Of course I do," he said, pulling back. "Did you confess?" The manager nodded, and he ruffled her hair. "Atta girl. My dumb little brother would-"

"Oi! What's with all the chit chat?"

The trio turned to look at Saeko, who had moved away from her position to frown at them. From a quick glance at the court, it looked like there was a time out. For Kamomedai or Karasuno, Mikaela couldn't tell. She was about to say something when Akiteru looped an arm back around her shoulders and called out, "Kaisha's dating Kei!"

Saeko's jaw dropped. _"What?! Why didn't you tell me?!"_

The next minute was spent with Mikaela apologizing frantically for not immediately alerting Saeko of her new relationship status and assuring her that this was very recent, followed by a dozen "I _told_ you he liked you, dumbass!" and then a hug that squeezed most of the air out of her lungs. Mikaela was overwhelmed by the support from not just Saeko but Akiteru as well, but she was immensely grateful. Tsukishima was her first boyfriend, so she didn't have much experience with dating, but she knew that if her boyfriend's brother didn't approve, she would've been crushed.

The time out finished, and they finally managed to concentrate on the game. The points went back and forth like always, but Kamomedai seemed to be getting a lot of block points. Mikaela couldn't help but notice that Kageyama was making heavy use of Tsukishima going through the middle. Despite their best efforts, Karasuno still ended up dropping the first set by four points.

"This isn't good," Mikaela mumbled, resting her elbows on the railing.

Tenma nodded, then turned to Akiteru. "You were kind enough to say that Hoshiumi's playing style resembles mine, but he's much better than I ever was."

"How so?"

"Well, take that last hit where he aimed for the end line. If I'd been in his shoes, I would've hit that down instead of back," the former Little Giant elaborated, and Mikaela propped her chin up on her palm to listen. "Kei-kun would've blocked me. Hoshiumi has far better skill and decision making than I ever did."

Mikaela shrugged. "Maybe that's just because it's Tsukishima we're talking about."

"Yep!" Saeko called, chiming in. "He just saw Kei and said, hell no!"

Tenma laughed. "Good point."

The second set started up. Kamomedai had moved their rotation forward a few spots, but Ukai had swapped around Hinata and Tsukishima, so nothing was going according to plan for either team. Kageyama started with a rocket serve, but their goliath managed to get a block out. Karasuno's synchronized attack got them the next point, and from there, the points bobbled back and forth until Hinata hit them with a slide attack. It was 4 - 3 for Karasuno.

The crowd cheered, and Mikaela grinned to herself. "They broke the stack block."

"What now?" Akiteru asked, leaning towards her.

Mikaela pointed down at the court. "In the first set, they had those three-" she gestured vaguely to Hoshiumi and two of the other tallest guys on the team- "setting up on the left. Kageyama was set up front right, so the only attacks were either coming from Tsukishima in the middle or Asahi on the left. So they just stacked there and got a crap ton of block points."

Tenma straightened up. "Oh! So when Shoyo-kun and Kei-kun switched, and now that Shoyo-kun does those slide attacks-"

"They have to run around a lot more," Akiteru finished. "Nasty."

Kamomedai got the next point, but Kageyama pulled off a wickedly nasty setter dump to get their fifth point. Mikaela cackled to herself in the stands, resisting the urge to flip off the Kamomedai team. _Not professional, dumbass._

"That was perfect timing!" Saeko said with a laugh.

"That was plain evil," Tenma agreed.

Mikaela hummed happily. "That's Tobio for you."

Kamomedai was gradually getting more and more block points, but it really caught up to Karasuno when they stuffed Asahi to get one point ahead, 11 - 10. Mikaela winced. _I hope Asahi's doing okay, that wouldn't be good for anyone's self-confidence._

On the next point, Tanaka received a wicked serve, and although it looked like a crappy pass, Kageyama turned it into a lightning quick set that tied up the game again for Karasuno. "Holy crap!" Mikaela and Akiteru cried out in unison, high-fiving each other.

"Whoa, did you see that?" Tenma exclaimed, leaning onto the railing. "That's one incredible setter Karasuno has! And he's a rookie?"

Mikaela beamed, proud of her cousin. "Yep!"

"Wow, they must've been thrilled to have him come on board." He glanced at Mikaela. "Is he your brother?"

"Cousin," she corrected.

"Ah, cool. Must be nice to have someone you're related to on the guys' team. Gives you an excuse to come to all their games!" Tenma said with a laugh, watching as Asahi set up for his serve. "Well, if you're dating Kei-kun, then there's another."

She grinned. "Honestly? They're all family to me at this point. I don't need an excuse to go."

He sighed, a wistful smile growing on his face. "Family, eh? I miss it."

The next few points played out, with Kamomedai taking over the lead, and Mikaela turned to Tenma. "Hey, can I ask you something?" He nodded, so she continued. "Why'd you stop playing? From what I heard, you were a good player."

"Well..." Tenma trailed off, watching the game unfold on the court below them. "I needed to go to school," he said softly, shrugging. "Honestly, I wasn't good enough to make a career out of volleyball. If I wanted a decent job, I needed to go to university."

"You could've played on a university team."

"I know, I know. I told myself that a dozen times," he said, chuckling weakly. On the court below them, Tsukishima pulled off a quick attack and got Karasuno another point. "I don't know, really. I never tried out for the team in first year, which was fine. I told myself I just needed a year to adjust, and then I would. But I just never did. I guess... I guess I just wasn't as volleyball crazy as I thought I was."

Mikaela tried to understand, but she didn't really get it. If you were good at something and you loved doing it, why wouldn't you keep doing it? Or maybe...

"Sorry if I'm prying," she asked, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I'm just guessing at something here."

"Go for it."

"Just a theory," the manager clarified again. "But did you start volleyball out of spite for being short or because you thought it might be fun, and you stayed because you were good, and not because you liked it?"

Tenma stiffened up, looking at her with wide eyes. On the court, Asahi pulled off a perfect tip to put Karasuno in the lead, 18 - 17. "Say that again?" he asked.

Mikaela shrugged, feeling herself blush. "Well, I don't know what it's like for you. But in my case, I've loved volleyball for a while. I can't imagine going without it, even though the universe has offered me plenty of opportunities to step away from it," she joked, thinking of her prosthetic and the arguments with her mother. "So it's natural for me to want to step back into it. It's like that for Tobio too, and same for Shoyo. They- We- are just really volleyball hungry.

"And it's always easier to enjoy something when you're good at it," she continued, watching the court. "Which is part of why I'm so obsessed with getting better. Because you always have more fun when you're better at something. So... Maybe it's the opposite for you. You're a bit like Tsukishima, who joined because it was kind of fun. Tsukishima's learned to love it, though. I get the feeling that you got good and kept playing through high school _because_ you were good, not because you liked it. You just never had your moment."

"My moment," Tenma repeated, and they both watched as Asahi slammed the volleyball into the arms of the Kamomedai blockers, luckily getting a waterfall block. "You hit every point on the head, I think. I guess I just never liked it as much as I thought I did."

Mikaela pursed her lips, dropping the subject. Could she ever get sick of volleyball? After all the time and effort she'd put into it? Hopefully not.

In the next point, their goliath finally managed to steal a point for Kamomedai, allowing them to come within one point of Karasuno. It was still 19 - 18, and Karasuno called a time out. "Come on, guys, just hold on," Akiteru mumbled under his breath.

"Hey, why don't they just do to that Hoshiumi kid what they did to Ushiwaka?" Saeko asked, leaning towards them. "Like, stack up their tallest line?"

Tenma shook his head. "That's a good idea, but Hoshiumi specializes in tooling blocks and getting block outs. Doing that would only give him more of a target." He glanced sideways to Saeko. "Hey, for someone who never played, you sure know a lot about volleyball."

Saeko laughed. "Thanks! I have all of these old guys to teach me!"

"Young guys!" Akiteru, Shimada, and Takinoue all protested (she'd forgotten Shimada and Takinoue were here, yikes).

The two teams ended up tying it up at 20 - 20, but Karasuno pulled off three points in a row- a service ace from Asahi, and lightning quick set from Hinata in which he actually jumped higher than normal, and a slide attack right after. "God, Shoyo must be exhausted," she muttered to herself.

Kamomedai responded in kind: they got a service ace, and Hoshiumi scored off a back row set. However, Hinata scored Karasuno's next point with a great block out, putting them up 24 - 22. Karasuno was one point away from set point, and they _needed_ this. They'd already dropped the first set, and they seemed to be dragging themselves around the court.

Yamaguchi went on to serve, and Mikaela bit the inside of her cheek. If they didn't get the point now, they'd be in a tough spot.

 _Come on, Yams, you've got this-_

Yamaguchi's serve was near perfect. The pass was botched, and the ball got sent up in an emergency set to Hoshiumi. Mikaela held her breath as Tsukishima and Kageyama both jumped for the block.

Something seemed to click in Tsukishima's head, because he jerked his hand out of the way of the block. Hoshiumi, who had been aiming for the blond's hand, sent the ball straight over the net, through Tsukishima's arms, and out the back of the court. He'd been trying for a block out, but Tsukishima had caught him and managed to move. The point was theirs, and so was the set.

"Yes!" Mikaela screamed, grabbing onto Akiteru's arm. "He moved!"

Akiteru seemed to be at a loss for words, and they both watched as Tsukishima grinned evilly at Hoshiumi before heading off the court, high-fiving Yamaguchi as he went. He glanced up at the stands and he flashed a quick peace sign to his brother. Mikaela beamed, and when he caught her eye, he smiled back before quickly jogging off the court. Mikaela felt butterflies erupt in her chest.

"He's so grown up," Akiteru said, looking like he was holding back tears for the second time that day. "Oh my god, my baby brother, Kei... When did you get so old?"

"Don't let him hear you say that," Mikaela joked weakly, trying to calm the anxiety storm that was building up in her chest.

"Kaisha, he was _smiling,_ this boy never smiles-"

"I know, I don't even think he was smiling when I confessed."

"Really?"

"Well, I had my eyes shut, so I don't really know."

Akiteru turned from the court to Mikaela, his eyes widening. "You had your eyes closed?"

She flushed. "Hey, I was nervous, cut me a break!"

"That reminds me!" Saeko zipped over to them at the speed of light, shoving Akiteru out of the way and grabbing Mikaela's shoulders. "Details, honey. Every single last one. I don't care if you don't think it's important, I want to know."

Mikaela tried her best to cram as much information in as she could in the time span of a time out. When she mentioned the prank that they'd pulled when she and Tsukishima had realized that the rest of the team was listening in, the adults all burst into laughter, cackling about the idea of them setting up a betting pool. Mikaela was about to mention the Nekoma team's betting pool when the whistle blew, signalling the start of the third set. After reiterating that if Mikaela had any more information that she should inform her immediately, Saeko headed back to her spot with her taiko crew.

"Set three!" Shimada said excitedly, grabbing onto the railing. "This is intense!"

"They've got this," Mikaela murmured to herself, clenching her hands into fists.

They did not, in fact, have it. It seemed to be going well, and Hinata did a lot of hiding with the other players that drove the other blockers into fits. But as soon as Tsukishima rotated to the front row, things started going bad. It was when Tsukishima tried to dodge the blockers and hit his spike out of bounds did Mikaela realize how tired he was.

She was about to speak up, but Akiteru beat her to it. "Kei's tired," he pointed out.

"It's to be expected," Mikaela said, defending him. "They had a match earlier, and it was against Nekoma. Nekoma is exhausting to play against."

Tenma hummed in agreement. "Six sets in one day is a lot."

"I feel bad for Azumane, Sawamura, and Tanaka," Takinoue piped up, nodding at the court. "They haven't got a rest all day."

 _True enough._

Kamomedai was up by three, and every time it looked like Karasuno would get a break point, Kamomedai found some miraculous way to pull through. Mikaela was clenching her fists so hard that she could feel her nails digging into her palms. The score started closing when Hinata pulled off a half slide, half huge jump to get a point, then jumped into a lightning fast quick set immediately after to put them within one point of Kamomedai.

Not only that, but in the very next point, Hinata decoyed another lightning set (Mikaela was having fun calling them lightning sets in her head) and she could've sworn that the blockers leaned more towards Hinata. Kageyama noticed- of course he did, _god_ she loved him- and sent the ball to Tanaka.

"They broke their system," she said aloud, watching as the team celebrated tying the score at 12 all.

"Come again?" Akiteru asked, leaning towards her.

Mikaela pointed at the court, where Asahi was setting up for his fourth serve. "Just wait. I want to see if they're actually broken or if that was a fluke." Hoshiumi managed a tip, and the point went to Kamomedai. But it was the next point that immediately became one of Mikaela's favourite points of all time: Hinata moved to do a lightning fast set and jumped sideways, prompting all the blockers to jump at him and giving Tanaka a wide open shot. "There you go," she said proudly, gesturing to the court. "Broken."

Tenma laughed. "They've started biting on the fakes."

"Shoyo's been pulling out so many new moves and types of sets that he can hit, and the fact that Tobio can give him those sets put them on their toes," she elaborated, grinning at the court. "Earlier, they weren't even fazed, and their blocking crushed us. Now, they're more conscious of Shoyo, which is giving us an edge. Part of that comes from exhaustion, and part of it comes from Shoyo adding more weapons to his arsenal that no one knows what to do with."

Hinata moved to the back row, and Mikaela accidentally squealed out loud when she saw Hinata set up for his side arm serve. "What's he doing?" Tenma asked.

"Just wait, just wait," she hushed quickly, her eyes trailing to Tsukishima as he moved to his place in the front row. "If this works, I'm buying Shoyo enough gari gari pops to last him a lifetime."

His side arm serve hit the top of the net and tumbled over. Unfortunately, the goliath on Kamomedai managed to lunge forwards and knock the ball over. _At least it's a free ball._ Kageyama tried a setter dump but all three of Kamomedai's blockers jumped for it, shutting the ball down. By some miracle, the ball hit the top of Daichi's foot, sending it over the net. Kamomedai spiked it back, and Hinata received it perfectly, then jumped into a back minus for the point.

"They pulled ahead!" Shimada cheered, the volume of the crowd nearly drowning him out.

"What the hell kind of serve was that?" Akiteru said in surprise, turning to Mikaela.

She beamed, pride flooding her chest. "I taught him that. It's a knuckle serve." Mikaela launched into the the explanation of the serve, but Akiteru's eyes were elsewhere. "Hey! You asked, right?"

"Hinata," he said shakily, pointing at the court.

Mikaela turned, and her face paled. Hinata was crouched on the court, and he wasn't getting up. The orange-haired boy tried to stumble to his feet, but fell on his rear. Mikaela's head was reeling; what happened? Was he injured? Did he just slip? Tired? No, Hinata never got tired-

She watched Kageyama mouth the word, "fever".

It all collapsed in her head at once.

 _"I feel like I could go play another game right now!" Hinata cheered, and Tanaka had grumbled, "that's not normal."_

 _"He's wired," Tsukishima complained. "It's annoying as hell."_

 _"Still?"_

 _"Still. It's not normal."_

 _Not normal._

Tears blurred to her eyes as she pushed past Tenma and Akiteru, heading for the stairs. It wasn't 'not normal' because it was a Hinata thing, it wasn't normal because it legitimately _wasn't normal._ She should've noticed, she should've checked on him- how did she not realize? Mikaela tore down the stairs, desperately trying to map her way to the court floor. She nearly tripped over her own feet as she made it to the entrance to the court.

Mikaela swung open the door and blinked rapidly, trying to force the tears back into her eyes. Hinata was sitting on the bench, tears leaking from his eyes and his face narrowed in fury, listening to whatever Takeda was telling him. She watched the sensei shake his head, then help Hinata stand.

She moved forwards, and forced a smile on her face as Takeda handed Hinata off to her. "Get him changed out of his sweaty stuff," he instructed softly, "then catch a taxi and go to the hospital."

"O- Okay," the manager forced out, wrapping an arm around Hinata's shoulders. "C'mon, Shoyo."

They made it to their bags, and Mikaela started rifling through Hinata's bag and throwing clothes at him. As he peeled off his sweaty jersey, Mikaela tossed it back in his bag, biting her lip the entire time. Tears were still welled in her eyes, because holy _shit_ why hadn't she noticed earlier? She was the manager, for god's sake, she was supposed to be able to catch this stuff. Why hadn't she? Why-

"Hey."

Mikaela nearly flinched. She glanced up to see Kenma, but his words hadn't been directed at her. "Kenma," Hinata said hoarsely.

"Came to cheer up a friend," the setter said softly, and Hinata's drying eyes brimmed with tears once again. Mikaela exhaled shakily to herself and zipped up Hinata's bag, reaching for her own.

She flinched yet again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Oi, Temper-san."

Mikaela groaned, not surprised. Wherever Kenma was, Kuroo was bound to follow. "Kind of busy, Kuroo-senpai," she choked out, refusing to look up so he couldn't see the tears in her eyes.

"Hey. Look at me."

"Absolutely not," she snapped, zipping up her own bag and sliding it over her shoulder. "I-"

"Oi. Not an option."

Mikaela paused, watching out of the corner of her eye as Kenma passed a tablet over to Hinata with the game playing on it. She stood up from her spot, still unwilling to look at Kuroo. "What?" she snapped, blinking.

Kuroo put a second hand on other shoulder and spun her around. "You've got to be stronger than this," he said firmly, his grip on her shoulders tightening. "For his sake."

"I'm trying."

"Try harder."

God, how she _hated_ being patronized like this. Mikaela shut her eyes and forced all the air out of her lungs, trying to get her shoulders to relax. "I'm okay," she lied, opening up her eyes again. When Kuroo raised an eyebrow at her, she sighed. "I'll keep saying it until I believe it."

He nodded. "Okay. Good." There was an awkward pause. "I'm not going to hug you."

"Jesus, Kuroo," Mikaela grumbled, scrunching up her face. "That'd be awkward."

Kuroo laughed, letting go of her shoulders. "Get that kid to a hospital."

Mikaela nodded. "Thank you," she whispered genuinely before turning her back on the Nekoma captain and heading over to Hinata. She pulled a mask out of her pocket and he slipped it on. "Let's get going," Mikaela urged, nodding politely to Kenma before putting her own mask on as well.

"M'kay," Hinata mumbled, his eyes trained on the tablet.

Her eyes drifted to the gym, but she tore herself away. _Shoyo is the priority. Shoyo is the priority. If I look back at the game, it'll distract me._

They headed through the main doors, and it was only when they made it out into the main pavilion did Mikaela start wondering how the hell she was supposed to call a cab. Thankfully, her savior arrived in the form of Shimada, who called a cab for them and told the cab driver where to go. Mikaela sat in the back seat with Hinata, half an eye on the game.

"How do you turn up the volume?" Hinata said suddenly.

"Button on the side," she murmured, reaching around and tapping it with her hand. Hinata hummed in thanks, and Mikaela glanced at the game score. 22 - 21 for Kamomedai. Tanaka nailed a brilliant cut shot to tie up the score.

When Tsukishima collapsed on the court from a leg cramp, Mikaela felt tears form again in her eyes. Not just Hinata, but now Tsukishima was down too- and worse, she wasn't even there for him. She watched the screen with watery eyes as Tsukishima called final instructions to his team mates as Shimizu dragged him off the court and Ukai subbed in Yamaguchi.

"We're here," Shimada said softly, and Mikaela helped Hinata out of the cab. She was in too much of a daze to properly thank the driver, so instead she just focused on walking through the sliding doors with Hinata and towards the waiting area. They sat down together, their eyes glued to the screen.

The score was 24 - 23 for Kamomedai, and Asahi pulled up to spike. His block out almost worked, but Kamomedai kept it alive. The dread built up in her stomach as Hoshiumi leaped, setting up for a spike, and hit it to the back corner of the court.

It was funny how slow the last play unfolded. The ball grazed Nishinoya's arms and went flying out of the court. The point went to Kamomedai. They won.

Karasuno lost.

The tablet kept streaming the feed of Kamomedai's celebration, and Mikaela watched through blurry eyes as Daichi collapsed on the court, staring up at the ceiling. Sugawara and Asahi moved to help him up, and she glanced up at Hinata, ready to suggest turning off the tablet.

Hinata wasn't even looking at the screen. He was glaring at the floor.

Mikaela silently reached over and pressed the power button on the device. The volleyball live cam gave way for a black screen. Hinata didn't give any indication that he noticed; he just kept glaring at the floor.

"It's not your fault," she said shakily.

He didn't look up, and Mikaela didn't know if he'd heard her.

Then, "it's not yours, either."

Mikaela blinked in surprise, then pursed her lips, thinking back to her conversation earlier with Kageyama. Just after her confrontation with the Niiyama team.

 _"Dad laughed, then said that to blame it on myself is to say that you're the only one that could've changed the outcome."_

Her eyes dried. She leaned back into the seat, sighing.

Karasuno lost.

 _Not my fault._

Maybe if she repeated it often enough, she'd believe it.

* * *

 **You guys are much too nice to me holy heck why is this story legitimately THRIVING**

 **Also this is the longest chapter I've written to date and believe me when I say I cried again running through the end of this in the manga... like I still can't get over it. Furudate, WHY**

 **Padgent:** Thank you so much! Rereading my stories and noticing the developmental bits that I can't remember writing is one of my favourite past times :D Thank you for your review! :)

 **Zoreux:** I'm glad, I know jet lag sucks so at least there's some solace XD Thanks for your review! :D

 **luvielle:** Do your research paper! ...I say as I procrastinate my chemistry lab report XD THANK YOU! Thank you so much for your review and kind words, much appreciated :D

 **Averi-nova:** Aww thank you! Yes, I'm going to go through the next five years at my own pace- I see it as a perfect opportunity to totally focus on Mikaela! I'm going to go through second and third year (the important bits, at least) but it shouldn't take me more than three or four chapters. Still, it'll be fun! Thank you kindly for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** Aw I'm so glad you liked it! Yeah, I'm very excited to the Karasuno versus Nekoma match to be animated, it'll be so so good. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kyion:** Oh my goodness you're too kind, thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story! I agree, I think one of my personal favourite moments is them cuddling on the couch XD Thank you so so much for your review! :)

 **Swaggishima:** I LOVE HIM TOO! Tsukishima just grew on me and... UGH I love him! Heyo, we cried together then :') Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **jily shiper:** Thank you! Yep, I'm going to go at my own pace for the next few chapters because the time skip after the Kamomedai match overwhelmed me while I was reading it and I can't handle trying to do that in my own writing XD Thanks for your review! :)

 **Uzutail:** Aw, thank you so much! :D

 **Sadashi:** I know! Hinata is literally one of the main characters of the whole story yet I feel like he's so underrated! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** I'm glad! Sorry, not a whole lot of TsukiXMika stuff this chapter... but it gets better, I promise ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **bbymojo:** I'm so glad you thought that part was in character! Tsukishima is so so hard to get right and I wanted to get more explanation about his feelings for Mikaela but it's so hard to keep him in character so I struggled with that part a lot. Thank you! Thank you so so much for your kindness and your reviews! :)

 **ScarletSea:** I'm so glad you binge read this! Thank you so much for your time and your review! :D

 **sndlr:** I do understand that reference, yes XD That's also what I thought of as I wrote it! No, Mikaela will not be getting her old rival's phone number- she's simply not interested. Actually, I'm Canadian! Although I understand where you're coming from- I've met people who had no idea what a platypus was. I love platypuses! They're adorable! Anyways, thank you so so much for your review and for binge reading my story- it means so much! :)

 **Elsa:** Absolutely! ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **My classes at my university have been cancelled and moved online because of COVID-19, and due to this sudden change, I've relocated home. Hopefully, this means a lot more writing will be done! This story is closing on its end like how the manga is coming to an end, and I don't think I'm mentally or emotionally prepared yet.**

 **(On another note, I hope everyone is staying home and safe from the virus! Please think of all the people at risk!)**

 **In terms of the time skip, I'm going to slow it down. I'm going to focus on Mikaela's journey over the next few chapters through the five year time skip for two reasons. One, I have a lot of ideas that I'd love to express. Two, it means that the story will go on longer, and I'm not ready for this to end quite yet.**

 **Thank you for your patience! I hope to hear from you! :) Stay healthy!**


	52. The Graduation

**Endless thanks goes out to SoccerSarah01, NaomiM200, Zoreux, hannymae, luvielle, bbymojo, Padgent, gloriious, Sayori1412, Averi-nova, SupMyDudez, jily shiper, ScarletSea, Swaggishima, OverGlowed, milkywayheartcupcake, Guest, MackeReally, Anne Nonimus, Shadow Wolf 15846, Tribble. Chan, Archie the Great, ReqindandDomey4ever, Kcatty771, YoungTaoist, NotSoHappyP-Nut, Loveryon, SasuSakuLover1619, Wildfire0029, FishPhia, GoldenScrollz, CyberSkylar, TheMedicineSeller, suga1993, Catlu277, Macschickennugget2.0, SaltyButterMilk, UseYourNoggin, onepiecelover6, SkyRider123, brokenlover360, nozomi. swan, Jemmyjem, kaylagalloway084, sherchan12, holunderherz, Demonprincess2331, Lozzaanimelover, sinyemouy, and NesMira for your continuous support! :)**

* * *

 _Mikaela-chan:_

 _I'm sorry to hear about your loss in the quarter-finals of nationals. Congratulations to your team, they played very well over the past few days. For a first time appearance at nationals, you should be quite proud of what you accomplished._

 _In terms of your volleyball career, I've made contact with a reporter who wants to do an article about you. Not just about your injury and volleyball, but all about you: your background, family, friends, and everything that makes you who you are. I saw your interview with Miya Atsumu, which was a brilliant move on your part. You were popular before, but you're more so now. This interview is the icing on the cake._

 _Additionally, I have some news to share with you about your future as a volleyball player based on what I've learned from speaking with the committee. Let's arrange a meet up as soon as possible._

 _Regards,_

 _Hujita Yanahaba_

Mikaela scowled at the email. "You think I was trying to get in an interview with that idiot?" she grumbled to herself, glaring at her phone screen.

Hinata looked up from his phone. "What is it?"

"Nothing," she said with a sigh, her eyes lingering on the last full line of the email. _I have some news to share with you about your future as a volleyball player._ "Nothing at all."

She closed her phone and shoved it in her pocket. She'd think about it later.

* * *

Mikaela slept in the taxi back from the hospital.

She was physically, emotionally, and mentally drained. Between stressful games, a difficult loss, and being approached by more faces than she could remember, her brain and body were dead exhausted. By the time she and Hinata had returned from the hospital (just a fever, thank goodness), everyone had already eaten dinner and was winding down. Mikaela kept her head down for most of it, making sure to check on Tsukishima and ensure that he was okay after his leg cramp.

"I'm fine," he assured her, scowling. "The cramp went away within a minute."

"Okay," she said in relief. "As long as you're okay now."

Tsukishima shrugged. "Fine. I want to look over tapes of Kamomedai from the match."

Mikaela perked up. "Really? We can do that together, if you want."

"Sure," he said softly, smirking. "Great date night ideas."

"You- You'd be down for date nights?" she asked excitedly, grabbing his hands. "What else would you want to do? We could do more museum trips, or go see a movie, maybe go get dinner- wait, we should stay cheap, maybe an arcade? Unless- wait, would you want date nights?"

Tsukishima shot her an amused look, apparently enjoying her excitement. "I thought that was one of the requirements of being a boyfriend."

She shrugged. "Depends on who you date. Some girls yes, others not so much."

"So which type am I dating? One that wants to go on dates every other night and make my pockets hurt?"

Mikaela laughed. "Well, my idea of a good date is playing volleyball or curling up on the couch and watching volleyball videos. So I'd say I'm pretty low maintenance."

"Good, I don't think I could afford constant trips out."

"I'd cover some of it, moron."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Oh, get a room, you two."

They both turned to see Sugawara, with his arms crossed and a knowing smirk on his face. Mikaela sighed and rolled her eyes, dropping Tsukishima's hands. "With all due respect, Suga-senpai," she said with a grin, "we _did_ have a room until you wandered in. And we're not even doing anything."

"We-" Tsukishima started, but Sugawara waved his hands.

"Just teasing you two. Don't forget, we leave pretty early tomorrow morning."

"We won't forget," Mikaela said quickly, tucking her hands behind her back. "Thanks for the reminder." Sugawara waved and said good night to both of them before vanishing down one of the hallways, leaving them alone again. Mikaela sighed to herself and turned back to Tsukishima. "I guess we should turn in too, right?"

"Yeah. One sec."

"What?"

Tsukishima leaned towards her and wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her in for a hug. Mikaela blinked in surprise before she let herself be pressed against his chest, welcoming how warm he was. She sighed, sinking into the fabric of his shirt with her cheek pressed up to his chest, and she felt him rest his chin on top of her head.

Mikaela never wanted to move. She'd had her fair share of hugs with Kageyama, sure, and they were warm and safe, yes, but this was different. The feeling of being wrapped up in Tsukishima's arms made something bloom inside her chest.

"Mikaela?" he whispered into her ear, and Mikaela felt chills roll down her spine. "Can I use a question?"

She didn't want to move, so she just whispered against his chest, "sure."

"Okay. Are-"

"Wait, how many do you have left?"

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes!"

"We're _dating,_ Mikaela. I think we have to be honest regardless now."

His emphasis on 'dating' made Mikaela's heart thump loudly in her chest. "I know, but still," she murmured. "It's our... it's our thing."

He huffed in laughter, and she grinned against his shirt. "Fine. Three left?"

"Sure. So down to two after?"

"Fine. Is that all, your Highness?"

"Yep."

"Okay." Tsukishima pulled away from her, and Mikaela felt painfully cold until he took her hands and looked at her. "Are you okay?"

She blinked. "What? Yes. That's your question?"

He sighed. "You're so dumb sometimes. No, idiot. I mean after this chaotic couple of days." He reached up and brushed one of her bangs behind her ear, but Mikaela couldn't bring her eyes away from her face. "It's been a lot for everyone, and we're all exhausted, but... between your interview and Miya and such."

Mikaela couldn't think of what to say, so she stammered out, "I didn't know you cared."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Just because I don't say it doesn't mean I don't care about you, dumbass."

"You just said it, though."

"Not technically."

"Dumbass."

"Moron."

"Idiot?"

"So?"

Mikaela exhaled slowly, and forced a smile on her face. "Yeah. I'm okay." He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly not believing her, and she sighed. "Well, kind of. I'm okay for now. I, uh..." The email from Hujita popped into her mind and she winced. "I got an email from the coach of Japan's female team. She wants me to do an interview for a magazine or something."

"Fun."

"Yeah. I think..." she trailed off. "I'm not going to do it. Social media's insane."

Tsukishima nodded, rubbing circles on the backs of her hands with his thumbs. "So?"

"I'll be okay," Mikaela concluded, smiling softly. "At the very least, I'm okay right now."

"Just okay?" he teased.

She squeezed his hands, beaming. "Better than okay."

"Good." Tsukishima leaned towards her, and Mikaela's stomach erupted with butterflies as he kissed her softly. "Get some sleep." With one last squeeze of her hands, Tsukishima let go of her and left, going down the same hallway that Sugawara had left through earlier.

Mikaela stood there by herself for at least a full minute, grinning like an idiot, before she sighed happily and went back to her own room.

* * *

 _Hujita-san:_

 _Thank you for the opportunity, but I think I'm good. I think I've had enough internet excitement to last me a lifetime. Any news you have to share with me about my future as a player can be addressed in an email or an invitation to participate in your camp next year._

 _I'm half joking. I'll come down to Tokyo sometime and visit if you're willing to discuss my options. Just let me know when._

 _Mikaela Kaisha_

* * *

The last two and a half months of school felt like a blur.

Despite all of their tournaments being over, Daichi decided to keep holding practices. They never really did drills of any sort, but they played long games and plenty of practice matches. Mikaela stopped watching and played with them. She and Kageyama would show up hellishly early (at the same time as Hinata, of course) and Mikaela started getting some quality practice in.

Ever since she'd gotten off the crutches, she'd been working at getting herself back in shape. Her cardio was okay (hobbling around on crutches was pretty damn exhausting) but her physical strength was a bit lacking, especially in her legs. She'd still worked on her arms in the gym, but her legs were weaker than they should've been.

Specifically, her jump. For her left-handed spikes.

"Again," she ordered Kageyama on one late Wednesday night in the gym. She winced and leaned onto her left leg, bending her right at the knee. The prosthetic flexed against the floor, where the fake ankle joint was. "Crap."

"Feeling okay?" he asked, furrowing his brow.

Mikaela nodded, biting her lip. "I'm fine with right hand spikes, because I have to jump off my left leg for that. But I can't get any height on my left ones."

"Because you have to jump off of your right," Kageyama clarified, "and you have no leg there anymore."

"Yeah, basically. No muscle to push off with."

Kageyama pursed his lips. "Well... is it something to do with your prosthetic? Could we look at getting you a new one?"

She sighed. "I don't know how much more that could do. The one I've got now is only a year old, and it's a custom one. It's literally half designed for volleyball. There's nothing I could do to give myself more jump strength."

"Could you get a prosthetic fully for volleyball?"

Mikaela shot Kageyama a glare. "Like Mom would go for that."

He shrugged. "She might."

They both paused for a moment. Mikaela was deep in thought. Was there anything that could be done? A large part of what made her a threat on the court was her ambidexterity. If she didn't have that... Well, she'd still be good. And it wasn't like she couldn't spike left-handed spikes, it was just that she could barely jump high enough to clear the net.

She shook herself, clapping her cheeks with her hands. "Let's go again," Mikaela said hoarsely.

Kageyama nodded. "Again."

 _Do it again._

The days dragged on, and Mikaela continued to practice. She brought Yachi in to a couple of their 'practices', and spent a while showing her the ropes. Thankfully, Yachi was now a lot more comfortable with the upper years on the team, and she looked like she was enjoying what Mikaela was showing her how to do. At one point, she asked if she needed to stalk people, and Mikaela had burst into laughter before reassuring her that she didn't.

The most progressive practice occurred on a typical Friday afternoon, in the dead end of February. Karasuno was in the gym, practicing like usual, but they typically ended sooner on Fridays, which was nice because Mikaela had an important date with Tsukishima tonight. She was warming up with Yamaguchi, bumping the ball back and forth, when she caught someone coming in the gym out of the corner of her eye.

Daichi greeted the guy- no, a girl?- at the entry. "Hey! Thanks for coming!" he said excitedly, jogging towards her. Mikaela frowned and nearly squeaked in alarm as the volleyball bounced near her foot.

"Sorry, Kaela!" Yamaguchi apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

She grinned sheepishly, grabbing the stray ball. "No, my bad, I got distracted."

Yamaguchi turned to where Mikaela had been staring and straightened up. "Is that Michimiya-san?"

"Wait, the captain of the girls' team?" Mikaela asked in surprise, standing up straight. _Why is she here? Unless-_

Daichi turned towards them, and nerves sprouted in Mikaela's chest when he locked eyes with her and grinned. "Mikaela! There's someone I want you to meet!" She smiled at Yamaguchi apologetically, but he waved her off and jogged off to join Hinata in his stretching circle. Mikaela took a deep breath and jogged over to the captain, who was grinning. "This is Michimiya Yui. She was the captain of the girls' team this year."

Mikaela stuck out a hand and smiled, determined to make a good first impression. "Mikaela Kaisha. Nice to meet you."

"You too," she said with a grin, and Mikaela was pleasantly surprised at how friendly she was. "Sawamura-kun has told me a lot about you."

"Good things, I hope," the manager joked weakly, and Michimiya laughed.

"I just heard that you wanted to know a few things about the team. You're going to be trying out next year, right?"

Mikaela's eyes lit up, and turned to Daichi. He shrugged and grinned, motioning for her to talk to Michimiya, and Mikaela could've hugged him right then and there. "Thank you so much, Captain," she said quickly, bowing to Daichi, before turning back to the girls' captain. "Yes! Yes, I just want to know more about the team and who's going to be captaining next year."

"For sure," Michimiya agreed. "Want to go to a tea shop and sit down for a bit?"

"Yes! Wait." She turned to Daichi. "Is that okay?"

"Go for it," he said, grinning. "This is more important for you, anyways."

"Thank you! Thank you so much." Mikaela turned back to Michimiya, grinning. "Just let me grab my bag."

"Of course," she said with a laugh.

She beamed, turning on her heel and jogging to the pile of backpacks. Mikaela pulled her sweater out of her bag and threw it over her head, rushing so fast that she nearly forced her head into the arm sleeve. "Kaisha! Where you off to?" Hinata called, bending so far forwards into his splits that it made Mikaela wince.

The manager tossed her backpack over her shoulder. "Going to go talk to the captain of the girls' team. We're going out for food."

"Have fun!" Hinata and Yamaguchi chorused, waving at her. Kageyama held up his hand in an awkward wave.

She waved back, and was about to turn around when she heard, "you better not be late tonight."

Mikaela sighed happily, turning to Tsukishima. He had a volleyball in his hand and was frowning at her, but there was smirk building behind the frown. "How could I ever forget?" she joked, heading over to him. "Don't worry, I'll be ready."

"You'd better be," Tsukishima grumbled. "If you leave me alone with those vultures, I'll go crazy." But he was smirking at her, which was enough for Mikaela to tell her that he was joking around. She pushed herself up onto her tiptoes and kissed him quickly, earning her several calls of "PDA! Gross!" from Hinata and Tanaka. Grinning, Mikaela squeezed his hand briefly before she turned away and jogged back to the entrance of the gym, where Michimiya was waiting for her. "Sorry," she said breathlessly, still grinning.

Michimiya smiled sheepishly, looking from her to Tsukishima. "No worries. All good to go?"

"Of course, sorry for the wait. Thanks again, Daichi."

"Take care, you two," Daichi said with a wave before turning back to practice. Mikaela and Michimiya headed out of the gym and the older girl took the lead, apparently having a tea shop in mind.

They weren't even thirty seconds from the gym when Michimiya turned to her, a shy grin on her face. "So, who was that?"

"Oh! That's Tsukishima Kei," Mikaela said, a silly grin popping onto her face. Dammit, she still couldn't talk about it without smiling like an idiot. "We've been going out for almost two months now. We've got a date tonight, so I need to be back at some reasonable time. He's coming to pick me up... 5:45, I think."

"That's plenty of time," she replied. "Congratulations! That's wonderful."

"Thank you!"

"What're you two up to tonight?"

Mikaela tried to think about how best to explain who they were meeting tonight, and with a smirk, she ended up settling for, "it's a meet-the-parents night."

Her eyes widened. "Wow! Big step."

"You could say that," she said with a laugh. "Where do you want to go?"

"I know this perfect little shop, not even two minutes from here," Michimiya said excitedly. "If that's okay with you." Mikaela nodded, and they walked while making small talk for another minute or so until they made it to the shop. It was a quaint little place with reasonable prices, so Mikaela ordered herself a hot chocolate while Michimiya ordered some sort of herbal tea. Once they'd gotten their drinks and sat down, Michimiya dove right into the conversation. "So! What do you want to know?"

Mikaela grinned. "Everything."

They ended up chatting for a little over an hour. Michimiya gave her the run down of the team, and Mikaela could hear her love for her teammates in her words. Although Karasuno had never done very well in competition, Michimiya made sure to emphasize how close knit of a team they were and how much she loved every single one of them. "Sudou's the captain next year," she said with a laugh. "She can hold a grudge, so don't get on her bad side!"

They continued on about positions and such, and Mikaela found herself trying to make up combination plays similar to what the Karasuno boys liked to do. Michimiya was enthusiastic about her ideas, and together they acted out plays using their empty cups and a couple napkins.

Eventually, they shifted from talking about volleyball to talking about boys. As it turned out, Michimiya had a bit of thing for Daichi. Mikaela enjoyed listening to her talk about him, and she shared some of her own stories about her and Tsukishima.

Speaking of which, Kahano hadn't taken the news very well.

Neither Mikaela or Tsukishima were overly comfortable with large amounts of PDA, so they typically restricted themselves to when they were alone. Lately, they'd started making exceptions for when they were around the team- they were basically family, it wasn't a huge deal- but they never did anything in school or in class. It was an unspoken rule between them, but they hadn't had any problems with it so far.

Apparently, someone had seen them holding hands while they were walking back from practice one day, and rumors spread fast. Mikaela had no idea there were even rumors circulating until Kahano had approached her at her desk before class started. "Mikaela-san, can I ask you something?" she'd asked.

"Sure," Mikaela had replied, and she'd thought it was weird that everyone else in class was staring at them but had initially brushed it off. "What's up?"

"Are you and Tsukishima-kun dating?"

That was when it had clicked for Mikaela. At this point, it had been a little over a month, and frankly she'd been surprised that no one had asked sooner. Sure, they avoided being affectionate in public, but someone had to see something at some point, right? "Us?" she'd asked incredulously, pointing between her and Tsukishima, who looked (for the most part) disinterested.

Kahano had nodded. "Yeah."

"Yeah, we are."

Apparently, being straight up was not the right way to go. Kahano had looked like someone was strangling her, because she was choking on her words and saying something along the lines of, "I thought you- you said that you didn't- but-" before Yuka had whisked her off the bathroom, glaring at Mikaela the whole time.

Well, Yuka and Kahano still didn't like her. She could live with that.

"Well, you should get going so you can get ready for your date tonight," Michimiya said pleasantly, snapping Mikaela out of her flashback. "This was a lot of fun! I'm glad I had the chance to sit down with you."

"Thank you so much," Mikaela said gratefully, standing up from her seat and collecting the garbage from the table. "I can't wait to play next year."

Michimiya laughed. "If you're as good as Sawamura-kun says you are, then I'm sure you'll take the team to new levels."

She flushed under the praise. "Thank you!"

They both went their separate ways as they were leaving the tea shop, and Mikaela picked up a jog to get herself home. She only had ten or fifteen minutes to get ready for when Tsukishima was coming to pick her up, and she wanted to look good. Tonight was important, and they were going out to a pretty nice restaurant. They never really did expensive dates, so this was a change of pace.

Mikaela shoved open the door, stumbling into her house. "I'm home!" she called, and her mom poked her head out of the kitchen.

"Isn't Tsukishima coming over in ten minutes?" she asked, frowning.

"Yep!" Mikaela replied, taking off for the basement stairs.

She heard her mother sigh in desperation, but the manager couldn't waste that kind of time. She sped down to her room and threw her jacket off, peeling off the volleyball clothes she was wearing and scrambling for something nice. _Dammit, I thought I owned nice clothing, where is it?_ Mikaela scowled to herself, but her eyes widened when she found two of her nice shirts: a navy blue, off-the-shoulder top with long sleeves, and a black tank top with silver lining that could probably pair well with a jacket.

Dark blue was Tsukishima's favourite colour, right?

Mikaela ended up wearing black slacks and the navy blue top, and after a quick debate, she let her hair down. Brushing it out was a pain (she had a hell of a lot of hair) but she thought she looked semi decent, at least.

The doorbell rang and she heard her mom yell, "Kaisha! Door!"

"Coming!" she yelled back, tossing her hair brush onto her bed and heading for the door. When she opened it, she nearly froze up. Tsukishima was standing there in a green collared shirt and dark pants, with his hands in his pockets. "Wow," was all Mikaela could say, because holy _shit her boyfriend was so hot-_

He smirked at her. "Thanks. You look great."

Tsukishima didn't compliment her often, so his words went straight to her heart. Mikaela beamed, straightening up. "Blue's your favourite colour, right?" she joked, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Green's yours?" he asked softly, and Mikaela didn't think her smile could get any bigger.

"Hello, Tsukishima-kun," her mother said from the kitchen, pausing in her cooking.

They pulled away from each other and Tsukishima bowed respectfully to her mother. "Kageyama-san," he said, and Mikaela laughed as she noticed him choke on the 'san' at the end- probably reminded of Kageyama. "I'll have her back by eleven."

"It'd do you good to have her back before then."

 _"Mom."_

"I'm joking. Have fun, you two."

"We will! Thanks Mom!" Mikaela grabbed her coat and threw it on, closing the door behind her as she left. Tsukishima took her hand in his and Mikaela grinned, squeezing his hand. "Ready?" she teased.

He sighed. "They're going to kill me, aren't they?"

"Probably."

"Yeah, let's get this over with."

She dropped his hand, beaming, and they started the ten minute walk to the restaurant that they'd been told to meet at. She hadn't exactly _lied_ to Michimiya. This was still a very important date, and yes, it was a meet-the-parents thing- sort of. Tsukishima had met her mother a few weeks into their relationship, and Mikaela already knew Ayano, so those weren't a big deal.

No, _these_ parents were going to be the biggest problem.

"What," Oikawa declared, stabbing his chopsticks into his noodle bowl, "are your intentions with our Mika-chan?"

"Oikawa," Mikaela scowled, crossing her arms. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Iwaizumi confirmed, frowning at Tsukishima. "This is the most serious he's been about anything since qualifiers."

Tsukishima sighed, nearly snapping the chopsticks he had in his hands. "Tch."

Mikaela hadn't realized that informing Oikawa and Iwaizumi of her relationship was going to cause something like this. She hadn't even been the one to tell them, which was the funny part; Kageyama had accidentally run into Oikawa in town and when Oikawa had asked where she was, her poor naive cousin had said out with Tsukishima and hadn't realized that Oikawa had no idea. This led to an angry phone call of "how could you not tell me, Mika-chan!" and "you picked the _robot,_ out of all of them?" in which Mikaela had to argue that Tsukishima was, in fact, not a robot and treated her very well.

Unconvinced, Oikawa and Iwaizumi had set up an interrogation night- sorry, a dinner.

"Is this really necessary?" Tsukishima asked with a tired sigh.

Oikawa looked offended. "Of course it is! This is Mika-chan's life and happiness we're talking about here."

"Oikawa, you're not in charge of my happiness."

"No, but we care about you," Iwaizumi clarified, leaning his elbows onto the table. "And frankly, we don't know a whole lot about Tsukishima here. And you can be pretty dumb sometimes, Mikaela."

"Fair enough," Tsukishima agreed, and she punched him lightly in the shoulder, scowling. "Look, the only reason I'm doing this is because you both mean a lot to her," he continued, his eyebrows knitting together. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."

Oikawa scowled. "You're not helping your case here, Four-Eyes."

"Says the one who was wearing glasses when watching the finals," Mikaela couldn't help but add.

"You don't get to talk here, Mika-chan."

"This is literally about me."

"Don't care."

Mikaela grabbed the ends of her hair and tugged, frustrated. "I can't believe you both," she grumbled, pulling the hair elastic off of her wrist. "I mean, I expected this from Oikawa, but you too, Iwaizumi?" She started gathering her hair up in a ponytail until Tsukishima reached towards her and pulled her hands down. "Hey!"

"You never wear your hair down," he said with a sigh, his eyes falling from the top of her head to her eyes. "It looks nice."

"Oh!" she squeaked, immediately snapping the hair tie right back to its spot on her wrist. Tsukishima's gaze trailed from her eyes to her lips, and Mikaela felt heat rush to her face. He smirked at her and turned away, looking back at the Aoba Johsai players. "Sorry," Mikaela forced out, trying to calm herself down as she turned back to face her senpais. "Where were we?"

Oikawa and Iwaizumi both looked from Mikaela, to Tsukishima, then to each other.

"Christ," the ace grumbled, picking up his chopsticks. "You two are gross."

Tsukishima snorted, about to say something (probably something snarky) so Mikaela kicked him from under the table. He winced but bit his tongue, instead using his chopsticks to shovel more noodles into his mouth. "Look," Mikaela said, ready to put the conversation to rest. "He makes me happy. He knows everything about me. Isn't that enough?"

"On the flip side, she makes my life miserable," Tsukishima remarked with a smirk, and Mikaela kicked him again. "So it's a pretty fair trade."

"Fine by me," Iwaizumi said, and Oikawa's jaw dropped.

"Iwa-chan! You're really going to let it go, just like that? This is Mika-chan we're talking about here, she's a delicate flower! We-"

("Delicate, my ass," Tsukishima grumbled, but Mikaela just grinned at him.)

Iwaizumi shut his partner up by poking him in the forehead with a chopstick. Oikawa yelped in protest. "Listen, Assikawa, I think Mikaela's smart enough to make her own decisions and decide who she wants in her life. Besides, it seems like he makes her happy, and let's face it, she's a grumpy person."

Mikaela snorted. "I'm a grumpy person? Have you _met_ Tsukishima?"

Oikawa pouted, elbowing Iwaizumi. "Iwa-chan, what was the point of coming out here if you weren't going to help me scare Four Eyes a bit?"

"Free food."

"Free food?"

Iwaizumi cast him a sideways glance. "You were paying, weren't you?"

There was a collective pause at the table, broken by the waitress returning to their sides, smiling obliviously at them. "Will those be four separate bills?" she asked pleasantly, pen posed over her notepad.

Mikaela shared a sly grin with Tsukishima. "One bill, please," she said innocently, avoiding Oikawa's eyes as the setter's jaw dropped.

"One bill," Tsukishima agreed, grabbing her hand under the table and squeezing lightly.

Iwaizumi nodded. "One bill."

The waitress nodded in assent and left, probably to go pile their orders together. Flabbergasted, Oikawa couldn't even figure out what to say. Iwaizumi raised his fist at her and Mikaela eagerly returned the fist bump, enjoying Oikawa's desperation. "Iwa-chan, Mika-chan," Oikawa forced out, looking around the table with betrayal in his eyes. "Hell, even _you,_ Four Eyes. Why?"

"Free food," Mikaela and Tsukishima said in unison.

"Watching you suffer," Iwaizumi added casually, slurping up the last noodles from his bowl.

"Oh, you all are _evil._ Fine, this one's on your senpai." He seemed to have finally recovered from being ganged up on. Oikawa huffed, crossing his arms. "Anyways. Treat her well, Glasses-kun, or else we _will_ have problems."

Iwaizumi gestured to Oikawa with the chopsticks. "I think that's the first thing he's said that I agree with."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose. "The amount of people that have threatened me is ridiculous," he said with a sigh, frowning at Mikaela. "You're friends with too many people."

She shrugged. "My bad."

"No one's threatened _you_ yet, though. Does anyone care about my well being?"

"That's my job."

He glanced at her, and Mikaela grinned when she saw his lips quirk up into a smirk. "I guess it is."

"I'm going to vomit," Iwaizumi said, and Oikawa pretended to gag.

"My, are people jealous?" Tsukishima taunted, leaning back in his chair.

Oikawa spluttered indignantly, "I could get a girlfriend! Or boyfriend! I could get anyone I tried to!"

Iwaizumi snorted. "You'd be more likely to attract aliens."

Mikaela laughed, shaking her head as the waitress returned with the bill. Collectively, they all pointed at Oikawa, who sighed and accepted his punishment. The captain paid, they all put their coats back on, and started to head out of the restaurant. "It was good to see you, Mikaela," the Aoba Johsai ace said, grabbing her in a hug. "Sorry that Shittykawa kind of ruined it."

Mikaela hugged him back. "Eh, he meant well."

"I paid the bill, can't you at least pretend you enjoyed it?" Oikawa complained, opening his arms. Mikaela hugged him next, laughing to herself. When they pulled apart, the two both glared at Tsukishima one last time. "See ya, Mika-chan. You're coming to our graduation, right?"

"Yep," she said. "Wouldn't miss it."

They waved one last time. Iwaizumi and Oikawa left one way, and Tsukishima and Mikaela went the other way. "See, that wasn't too bad, right?" Mikaela asked, nudging her boyfriend with her elbow.

He scoffed. "They're ridiculously overprotective."

"Can you blame them?"

"Fair enough."

"I appreciate the fact they care, though." Mikaela linked her arm through Tsukishima's and smiled at him. "Thanks for going through with that, even if you didn't want to. I can tell you would've rather been anywhere else."

The blond shrugged. "I got free food. Wasn't all bad."

They walked together in silence. The plan was to head back to Tsukishima's place and watch movies (mostly cuddling) before Mikaela had to go back home. Something was nagging at the back of mind, and Mikaela pinched her lips together. "Hey, Tsukishima?"

"Yeah?"

"Does it bother you that I'm friends with a lot of guys?"

"Does it bother me?" he repeated, and Mikaela nodded, tightening her hold on his arm. "Are you planning on dating any of them?"

"No?"

"Then no, it doesn't bother me." Tsukishima huffed, adjusting his glasses with his free hand. "You're the manager of a boys' volleyball team, Mik. It's obvious you're going to have a lot of male friends, especially with a personality as charming as yours." Mikaela snorted. "As long as you're not going to date any of them, I don't care."

Mikaela sighed happily, snuggling into his arm. "M'kay. Thanks, Kei." He stiffened from the use of his first name, but judging by the smirk on his face, he didn't mind. "Also, I'm going to be cutting my hair."

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah. Can't have it too long for volleyball. Probably chopping it off at my shoulder," she added, using her free hand to show off where she was cutting it. "Gah, that's a bit short. Maybe I'll leave it a bit longer. It just can't be too long, you know?"

"That's a lot of hair off."

She grinned. "I have enough to donate while still keeping a good chunk of it, so I think I'm going to do that. Tobio's older sister's going to cut it when we go down into Tokyo tomorrow."

"For your meeting with Hujita-san, right?" Tsukishima clarified, and she nodded. "Wait, Kageyama has a _sister?"_

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah, she's a hair dresser in Tokyo. She lives with her boyfriend."

"You've never mentioned her."

"We're not close."

"Hm."

They walked the rest of the way to Tsukishima's house in silence, side by side. Mikaela had let go of his arm, so they weren't touching, but that was okay with her. She knew that as soon as they got back, she'd be cuddled into his arms fast enough.

Ayano said hi to both of them when they got back, stopping to hug Mikaela briefly (Ayano was like a second mother to her now) and leaving them the living room. Tsukishima popped in Jurassic World (one of their favorites) and raised an eyebrow. "You have a spare change of clothes?"

Mikaela glanced down at her shirt and pants. She looked back up, grinning sheepishly. "Nope. Didn't even think about it."

"Dumbass."

"Sorry, I was a bit rushed," she replied with a scowl as Tsukishima rolled his eyes at her, vanishing into his room. Probably getting changed. Mikaela sighed, sitting herself down on the couch and tugging at the sleeves of her top. She hadn't even thought about it; it had completely slipped her mind.

Something smacked her in the side of the head, and Mikaela was about to complain when she realized what it was. _A hoodie?_ "Get changed," she heard Tsukishima call before his door slammed shut.

In awe, Mikaela held up what he'd thrown at her. A black hoodie and sweats.

 _His_ clothes.

Mikaela squealed to herself and practically skipped to the bathroom to change, happily slipping into Tsukishima's comfy clothing that was at least one size too big on her (she liked it better that way anyways) and sliding out of her fancier stuff. When she was changed and out of the bathroom, Tsukishima was already on the couch. When he looked at her, his face went bright red. Mikaela grinned. "Thanks," she said gratefully, squeezing next to him on the couch.

"You don't get to keep them," he said with a scowl, turning away from her.

She'd never seen him this red before. "I know, I know," Mikaela teased, cuddling into his side. "Thank you. They're really warm."

Tsukishima sighed softly, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "I know, they're mine."

"Stop being snarky and watch the movie."

So they did. They watched the first one, and when it was done, they still had over an hour until Mikaela's curfew. Mikaela was totally content to just doze off into Tsukishima's side when Ayano popped her head into the living room and told them that she had just got off the phone with Mikaela's mom, asking if it was fine if Mikaela stayed the night. Mikaela had no idea how, but Ayano had managed to get her mother to agree to that. After thanking Ayano repeatedly, Mikaela went back to her new favorite past time: cuddling with Tsukishima.

They ended up falling asleep on the couch with Jurassic World 2 playing in the background, but Mikaela wouldn't have traded it for the world.

* * *

"Mikaela."

She grumbled in response, shifting slightly in her spot.

A sigh. "Mik, my arm's asleep."

"Don't care."

Another sigh. "Mikaela, Kageyama's going to be here in ten minutes."

"Wh- What? What time is it?"

"Ten to ten."

Mikaela yawned and cracked open an eye, surveying her surroundings. To her delight, she was laying sideways on the couch next to Tsukishima. She had her head propped up on his shoulder, with his arm awkwardly tucked around her. One of her arms was draped over his stomach and the other was crunched into her side. One of her legs was over top of his.

She sighed softly, enjoying the moment, and then his words clicked. "Wait. Ten to ten?"

"I texted him that you stayed the night," Tsukishima said as Mikaela shoved herself up from the couch. "He said he'd be here at ten. He's going with you to Tokyo, is he not? And you're getting your hair cut by his sister?"

"Yep," Mikaela replied absentmindedly. "Where'd I put my clothes from yesterday?"

"Far table," he answered, and Mikaela spun until she was facing the table and snatched her navy blue shirt and pants up. "I've got a hair brush somewhere you can borrow. Your hair is a disaster."

She laughed. "Well, after today, I'll have less of it to deal with." She bit her lip and started heading to the bathroom. "I hope it'll look okay."

Tsukishima grabbed her wrist as she walked by, and before she could protest, he pulled her in for a quick kiss. "You couldn't look bad if you tried," he said softly, and something warm spread through Mikaela's chest. "Now go get changed. I want my hoodie back."

"R... Right," she forced out, a grin slipping onto her face. Mikaela stumbled into the bathroom and sighed, sinking against the wall and burying her face in Tsukishima's hoodie. How was it that his hoodie was warmer and comfier than every single one of her hoodies? Maybe it was a guy thing- Kageyama's sweaters always felt warmer. Sighing, she pulled the hoodie over her head and tugged off his sweatpants, pulling on her clothing from the evening before.

Mikaela opened the door to the bathroom, and Tsukishima tossed a hair brush at her. She caught it and tossed his clothing back at him. "Thank you," she said gratefully, dragging the brush through her mess of hair. "Your stuff was great."

"It was a size too big on you."

"That's what made it so nice," she argued, yanking the brush and wincing as it caught on a knot. "Anytime you want to let me steal something, I gladly will."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you will."

A few minutes later, when Mikaela had her hands deep into her hair in an effort to put it up into a ponytail, there was a knock on the door. "That'd be Tobio," she said brightly, wrapping the hair elastic around her mess of black hair. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"If I have to."

Mikaela laughed, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Tsukishima offered her a rare smile. "Bye. Text me how it goes."

She grinned, pulling the door open and grabbing her coat from the hook. Kageyama was at the door step with his hand posed at the door, ready to knock again. He raised his eyebrows. "You ready to go?" Mikaela nodded, zipping up her coat, and Kageyama closed the door behind her.

The train ride to Tokyo took longer than Mikaela remember it being every other time she had to go into Tokyo. The station was pretty crowded, and maneuvering through the throng of people was a bit annoying, but they still made it to Tokyo with plenty of time. They had over an hour until Mikaela had to meet Hujita, so Kageyama mapped out the way to the hair salon where his sister worked.

Miwa was kind but a bit distant, which was typical of her. Mikaela hadn't seen her in a few years, but she didn't look much different from what Mikaela remembered. Before Mikaela knew it, more than half of her hair was gone. Miwa had braided it up to the specified length for donation, which still left Mikaela with hair that went a few inches past her shoulder.

It was different, and Mikaela wasn't sure if she liked it yet. Regardless, she paid Miwa and thanked her. "Thanks, Miwa," Mikaela said gratefully, touching the ends of her hair. _So short, oh my god._ "It was nice to see you."

She lifted her hand in an awkward wave, forcing a smile on her face. "See you, Kaisha."

"We've got twenty minutes until your meeting," Kageyama said. He glanced at his sister. "Bye, sis."

"Stay safe, Tobio," Miwa called before she turned back to her station, going to clean some brushes.

Mikaela pursed her lips, glancing from Kageyama's sister, then back to him. He didn't seem bothered, but that kind of distance definitely would put a strain on their relationship. "You don't miss her at all?" Mikaela asked when they got out to the street, ready to catch a taxi.

Kageyama shrugged. "Not really."

"She's your sister, though."

"You're more of a sister than she ever was."

Mikaela paused, taking a minute for the words to register in her brain. Once they did, she grabbed Kageyama's hand and squeezed briefly as a taxi pulled up in front of them. He didn't seem to react, but Mikaela hoped he knew how much those words meant to her.

They took the taxi down to the Ajinomoto National Training Center, and made it there with ten minutes to spare. They waited in the lobby until Hujita came down to meet them, exactly on time. "Mikaela," she greeted, smirking at her. "I see you brought your cousin."

"He offered to come," Mikaela defended, glancing at Kageyama. "There's no problem if he stays, right?"

"Well, you'll just tell him all about it after, so I don't see why not." Hujita beckoned to them. "Come on, let's go up to my office."

Mikaela and Kageyama followed Hujita to the elevators, and then from the elevator down the hallway to her office. Mikaela fidgeted with the hem of her jacket, unable to keep herself still. When they got into the office, Hujita sat behind her desk. She and Kageyama pulled out the two chairs in front of the desk and sat down.

Hujita laced her fingers together and propped her elbows up on the desk. "I'm going to get straight to it. You can't compete with my team."

She paused, trying to digest the information. "Wait- Wait, but you said-"

"I'm aware of what I said and I apologize for giving you false hope, if that was the case," the coach continued, eyes flitting from Mikaela to Kageyama. "But there's no way I can get it bypassed, especially with the existence of the Paralympics."

"Paralympics?"

"The version of Paralympic volleyball involves playing while seated." Mikaela didn't like the idea of that, and Hujita must've been able to tell from the look on her face, because she smirked. "Yeah, I thought so. I'm sorry, Mikaela. However, I still feel like I can get a lot out of your playing and your play style. So, should you continue to improve, I'd like to consider you for the team."

Mikaela tried her best to stay calm and collected, but the offer was so huge that she couldn't keep herself still. "Wait, like Japan's national team? Team Japan?"

Hujita raised an eyebrow. "That's what I coach, yes."

She exchanged a look with Kageyama, who didn't seem that surprised. "But..."

"This is dependent on a lot of things." The coach frowned. "I'm not saying you're on the team. I'm saying if you're planning on improving and you're still aiming for that level of competition, then the best I can do is put you on the team but not let you play in any of the main matches. You'd be on the bench. Maybe, with the other team's approval, you could play in a couple practice matches.

"I'm telling you this because this is your best case scenario for pro volleyball," Hujita continued. "I'm not saying for sure that you'll be able to make the team. I have no idea with how your injury is going to impact your play. But I'm saying that if you impress me as much as I'm hoping you will, that's what I can offer you."

"Well..." Mikaela trailed off, glancing helplessly at Kageyama. He just shrugged. "That's the best I can hope for, given the circumstances," she said finally.

Hujita pursed her lips. "Great. That's all the news I had for you." She tilted her head towards Kageyama. "Keep doing what you're doing, kid. From what Fuki's told me, you're a shoe-in for the camp next year."

Kageyama straightened up. "Oh- Thank you."

Hujita stood up, and the cousins followed suit. She held out her hand and Mikaela shook it reluctantly. "You sure you don't want a quick interview?" Hujita asked, smirking. "I have the reporter on speed dial."

"Nah, I'm good," Mikaela said quickly, chuckling. "I've had enough of that for a while. You can tell them I'm going to play for Karasuno, though."

"I'll do that," she agreed, shaking Kageyama's hand quickly. "Thanks. Run along, you two."

They left the Ajinomoto National Training Center and caught a taxi back to the train station. Mikaela was quiet almost the whole way back, still digesting the information that she'd been given. She'd caught Kageyama staring at her a few times, and she'd avoided eye contact every time. She knew what he was thinking, and it wasn't something she wanted to talk about just yet.

It was only when they got off the train, back in Karasuno territory, did Kageyama finally ask what had been on his mind for over an hour. "So?" he asked. "What're you thinking?"

Mikaela thought for a second, then laughed. "I'm wondering why the hell we traveled over an hour each way into Tokyo for a five minute conversation."

Kageyama smirked. "Worth it?"

"No," she said immediately, blinking. "Not in the slightest."

He sighed, and Mikaela moved towards him and hugged him fiercely, blinking rapidly to stop the water from gathering in her eyes. He shuffled slightly, surprised by the sudden move. "It's not fair," he said quietly, and Mikaela had to squeeze her eyes shut. "You're one of the best players I know, and you're getting your chances ripped out from under you."

"It's not fair," she echoed into his coat, her grip around his rib cage tightening.

They were quiet for a moment before the manager started laughing, the sound muffled by her cousin's coat. "You good?" Kageyama asked, puzzled.

Mikaela let go of him and willed her eyes to dry, forcing a smile. "I will be."

"Want to practice?"

"Obviously."

That was all she was good for now anyways, right? Just practice.

* * *

When Karasuno's graduation rolled around, Mikaela managed to hold back her tears. It was heart-breaking, sure, and she was going to miss the stability and sense of comfort that they brought not just to the team but to her life in general. She'd hugged all of them, thanking each of them for everything they'd done for her, and she definitely got a bit misty-eyed when she was saying good bye to Shimizu.

It was even harder to stop herself from crying at Oikawa and Iwaizumi's graduation.

She felt kind of bad- Karasuno was her home, so she probably should've been more sad for them. But Oikawa and Iwaizumi had been a huge part of her life for the past few years, and knowing that they were out of high school and their volleyball careers were _over_ was killing her. Hell, even Hanamaki and Matsukawa were making her cry. She would never be as close to them as she was with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, but it hurt all the same.

"Don't cry, Mika-chan," Oikawa said with a laugh, hugging her. His diploma was clutched in one hand and just looking at it made more tears well up in her eyes. "It's not like we even went to the same school."

"Still," she grumbled, pulling away from the setter and wiping her eyes.

Hanamaki grinned. "Oi, it's not so bad. We'll come watch your games." Matsukawa nodded in agreement, resting an elbow on Hanamaki's shoulder and leaning onto him.

"You won't have time."

"We'll make time," Iwaizumi argued, hugging her next. Mikaela tucked herself into his chest and curled in on herself, unwilling to move. "You remember what I told you when we graduated Junior High?"

She swallowed, suppressing her tears. "Something about volleyball."

"I said you'd be a famous volleyball player someday," he reminded her, pulling away from her. "Well, you're famous. And a volleyball player."

Mikaela smiled wryly. "Almost."

He grinned. "Almost. Won't take you long. And remember what you say?"

"Iwaizumi Hajime taught me everything I know," Mikaela said with a laugh, repeating what he'd told her three years ago. "Yeah, I'll be sure to mention that in my next interview."

"Oi!" Oikawa protested. "I'm sure I taught you something! Feel free to mention me too!"

"Same here," Matsukawa added. "Your blocking prowess comes from me."

"And your receives from me," Hanamaki put in, shaking Matsukawa's elbow from his shoulder.

She scowled, but couldn't get the sad smile to leave her face. "You all suck. I learned nothing from all three of you except how to harass my juniors," Mikaela joked weakly, crossing her arms.

"But are you not an expert in that now?" Matsukawa said with a cheeky smirk.

Hanamaki grinned. "You can't say we don't do our job well."

Mikaela laughed. "I guess so. I'm going to miss you guys."

"Visit any time," Oikawa said brightly, ruffling her hair. Mikaela scowled and swiped at his hand. "I promise I'll always have time for you, Mika-chan!"

"Call anytime," Iwaizumi added.

She smiled. "I will."

She was going to miss them. Despite being from another school, they'd made an effort to be active in her life and pick her up when she lost her footing. Although they said to call anytime, Mikaela already knew that it wouldn't be happening. University made a person busy, from what she heard. She knew she'd call. She'd think of them sometime and call to check up, but they'd be so busy with everything else, why would they make time for one of their juniors?

Mikaela sighed to herself. _Sometimes, you've just got to let things go, I guess._

Time to move on. Time for second year.

* * *

 **HAIKYUU CHAPTER 387. ONE OF THE MOST RECENT CHAPTERS. IT RUINED ME. *spoilers inbound* I WAS NOT EXPECTING A KAGEYAMA BACKSTORY AND IT HAS THROWN ME THROUGH A LOOP. HE HAS A SISTER. THIS ISOLATED BOY HAS A REASON FOR BEING ISOLATED AND HE HAS A FRICKIN SISTER LIKE WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW I'M 52 CHAPTERS IN I CAN'T CHANGE IT NOW HOLY CRAP**

 **Anyways, I've edited my first chapter slightly to accommodate for this startling new information. Thankfully, Kageyama having a sister and a close grandfather doesn't change much of my story at all, especially since it seems like he has a very distant relationship with his sister Miwa and she's quite older than him.**

 **Good _lord_ why has Furudate done this to me. I'm such a mess.**

 **(Also these chapters just keep getting longer and longer but I'm very unwilling to break these into two, even though I easily could. Yikes.)**

 **NaomiM200:** Thank you so much! You're so sweet T^T I know what you mean aha, sometimes it's a bit tricky to resist the temptation to turn this into a reverse harem- I have to remind myself that no, this isn't a romance fic, and _no,_ a harem would only cause more problems than it would solve. XD I'm so glad you're enjoying this despite it not being your preferred genre! I never really imagined Mikaela and Kageyama's tight friendship being anything sort of supportive, I'm glad you can see it shine through, especially in the last chapter. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Zoreux:** The colored art had me in shock, I still hadn't fully processed it and it was making my head spin T^T I remember reading the chapter with their loss and going "oh no how horrible" and being upset but when I _really_ teared up was the chapter after, not even because it was the aftermath of the game and people were tearing up, but because it ended with a five year time skip. I was like "WHAT why are we going so FAST what HAPPENED" and I was thrown through a loop. Thank you for your review! :D

 **bbymojo:** I'm getting a general consensus from the reviews that Akiteru was a highlight of the chapter XD I'm glad you enjoyed his reaction! Yeah, I thought the dinosaur collection bit was a nice touch ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Padgent:** I hope you'll like the next couple chapters, then! I'm so glad, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **luvielle:** I'm glad you liked that part! A lot of people seemed to enjoy Akiteru's reaction and I'm so glad, he's such an underrated character and I'm so glad I could give him more opportunity to shine :) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **hannymae:** I was relating to your review as you were talking about online classes because of the virus, but when you said that your class was still going on as you were reading/writing a review made me _cackle_ because I'm writing this while my class is going on right now XD I was debating whether to change it to a win and have Mikaela catch the fever early, but it didn't feel right. There's only so much I can change before I feel like I'm straying too much from Haikyuu, if you know what I mean. Besides, I've got a personal headcanon that Fukurodani won Nationals XD Thank you so much, as always, for your lovely review! :D

 **gloriious:** Thank you! Yeah, the time skip in the manga took a while for me to wrap my head around and I'm still kind of mad about it XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** I know, it hurts me every time I reread it or write it... Hinata taken out by a fever in a match that they could've won. Still haunts me to this day. The next few chapters are my own interpretation (mostly) so it won't really be any spoilers (phew!) so I hope you'll enjoy those ones a bit more. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Averi-nova:** Don't even get me STARTED on when this gets animated because I don't think I'll be able to handle it T^T I'm glad this is a good fic to reread, much appreciated XD I'm trying not to make too many OCs because I know that the more I make, the harder it is to keep track of them all. I'm using some names provided in the Haikyuu wikia page for some of the girls on the team, at least. Yep! I almost forgot about those two girls, and your review reminded me to put them in somewhere. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **SupMyDudez:** Akiteru's creeping his way into my favourite character list XD I'm so glad you enjoyed, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **jily shiper:** I'm so happy I got to meet you too! XD Now is not the time to get super sappy! We still have at least four or five chapters to go! I'm glad you liked Akiteru and Tenma, they're both so much fun to write XD Thank you so much for your review, PM me soon! :)

 **ScarletSea:** Me too! I've been writing this for over a year and I don't want it to be over just yet. Thank you for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** Thank you so much again for what you're doing, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it T^T Tsukki's looking _sooooooo_ good at 22 oh my goodness... Anyways, thank you so much for your review! I'll talk to you soon! :)

 **SoccerSarah01:** Oh. My. God. You've rendered me speechless. I don't know what I can say other than thank you so much T^T You reviewed _every chapter!_ That's some serious dedication! Thank you so much, you're so unbelievably kind. All of your kind words mean so much and went directly to my heart. :') Thank you so much, you seem like such a kind person and I'm looking forward to hearing from you more! :D

 **OverGlowed:** Thank you so much! Yeah, ironically enough, I'm not a fan of reading OC stories (yet I've written some, yikes) so that makes me so happy that you're enjoying this one. Thank you so so much for your lovely review! :)

 **milkywayheartcupcake:**...Well, that's definitely a possibility. ;) Thanks for your review! :D

 **Guest:** Aww, you're so sweet! Thank you so much! T^T Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **MackeReally:** Thank you so much! That's the whole goal of writing, aha. Hard to reread without thinking she should be there. ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Anne Nonimus:** Almost? ;) Aw, thank you so much! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** Yeah me too, that part in the manga really hurt my heart. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Tribble. Chan:** Aw, thank you so much! I've gotten most of her second year set out and written, and... well, it's a bit difficult for me to read without tearing up a bit. That's all the hints you get. ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Time for a time skip!... Sort of. I definitely won't be taking 52 chapters to get through Mikaela's second year, but I'm still going to look at smaller important parts in detail. More likely, the next three chapters will be second year and the two after that will be third year. Second year's looking pretty eventful. ;)**

 _ **How To Fly With Clipped Wings**_ **has been cross posted to Wattpad by Swaggishima, and is going to be translated into Spanish! Thank you so so much again! If you want another platform to find this on, _MissAz97_ is their Wattpad username :)**

 **Thank you for your continued support. I love you all. :)**


	53. The Tryouts

**Thank you so much to Sayori1412, hannymae, Zoreux, luvielle, Shadow Wolf 15846, Averi-nova, Padgent, SupMyDudez, S. yons, AnneNonimus, Guestwithout, SoccerSarah01, Siera-Knightwalker, milkywayheartcupcake, Swaggishima, mochicchiato, Amor Mio, Natives11, Pandakat312, littleclipp, Shyla915, Ryuuko Kimura, chocolate-is-the-best, respect jounin, Crazymadeye, leiladixon, Frank12345, haikyuurarepairs, FishPhia, EmperessNyx, Loving-you-is-a-crime, martineow04, Emily W, kayleneee, christzhang99, and nakhodchivost for your wonderful support! Happy Easter!**

* * *

Mikaela turned heads when she walked into the Karasuno girls' volleyball team tryouts on the first day of her second year.

Daichi had connected her with Michimiya Yui before the third years graduated, and Mikaela had wheedled as much information from the former Karasuno captain as she could. There were next to no videos of the Karasuno girls' team because they'd never done well enough to make it anywhere near the finals of the regional qualifiers. Michimiya was kind and very willing to open up about the club.

It was like Mikaela had suspected: the team wasn't great. They barely had any new people at tryouts and never did very well in games; the team was generally unmotivated and getting consistent practice was hard. The captain for next year was Sudou Rinko, and Mikaela was determined to make a good impression.

So, she was mildly surprised when she walked into the first tryout and saw ten girls lined up.

Mikaela frowned, craning her neck to see a small desk set up with one of the upper years taking people's names as they signed in. Ten people? Already? Michimiya had said that there were never more than four new people every year. What was this?

"Excuse me," she said quietly, tapping the shoulder of the girl in front of her. "Is this the tryout?"

The girl turned, and her eyes widened. "Oh my god, it's really you!"

The volume of her voice nearly made Mikaela wince. The rest of the line turned to face her, and even though Mikaela was taller than most of them (she grew an inch over the break!), she felt surprisingly intimidated. "Sure," she said, crossing her arms. "This is tryouts, right?"

The girl's mouth parted and she gaped at Mikaela like a fish.

"Alright then." With a sigh, Mikaela turned to the girl at the desk, who was smirking at her. "Do I sign in with you?"

"I think you're good," she said, leaning back in the chair. "We know who you are."

 _Of course._

Mikaela nodded to her and turned to the rest of the line, who were still staring at her. She channeled her inner Kageyama and glared at them, causing most of the girls to shrink back. Mikaela turned away and headed to the change room, ready to get this over with. She pulled on a loose black t-shirt and athletic shorts, leaving her prosthetic on full display. It didn't bother her anymore.

By the time all the potential players were signed in and changed, Mikaela had come to three conclusions.

One: she was the reason for the increase of people at tryouts.

Two: she was more famous than she'd realized.

Three: the captain didn't like her all that much.

"Welcome," Sudou Rinko, captain of the Karasuno Girls' Volleyball team and middle blocker, announced loudly to sixteen girls, "to the first tryouts for the Karasuno volleyball team. In previous years, we've accepted everyone who tried out, but we can't take all of you, so we'll hold three tryouts before we make the team. So players from last year need to try out too."

Mikaela raised her eyebrows. _Say something useful, please._

"I'm Sudou Rinko," she said, holding up a hand, "and I'm a third year middle blocker. I'll be captaining this year."

She gestured to the girl standing next to her. "I'm Kikuchi Moe," the other girl said with a large smile. "I'm vice captain, third year, wing spiker."

Sudou's smile tightened. "We won't be picking favorites or doing anything by preference. So even if you were on the team last year, there's no guarantees. It doesn't matter if you've been on the team before or if you're..." Sudou's eyes narrowed at Mikaela and she pursed her lips. "... _famous."_

Mikaela's nails dug into her skin. _Oh, it's on._

Practice began. Mikaela didn't even consider it a tryout; she knew she'd make the team. She'd been training nonstop with Kageyama since she got off of those damn crutches, and she had made sure to get back in shape as soon as she could. She played flawlessly. Her receives were on point, she'd been nailing her serves, and her spikes were stronger than they were in Junior High. She made sure to work with both her left and right hands, trying to make sure she was getting enough practice in with both.

She whipped into a powerful left-handed spike and landed in front of the net, grinning as her spike hit the back corner of the court. "Nice shot, Mikaela-san," one of the girls called.

Mikaela nearly faltered. She'd forgotten that she should try and be nice to these girls; they hadn't done anything wrong to her. "Thanks," she replied, forcing a smile. The girl grinned to herself and turned to her friend, whispering excitedly. Mikaela sighed and rolled her eyes, ducking under the net to go collect the volleyball.

 _I'm going to have to get used to this._

After several annoying drills, they launched into a three-on-three king's court. The losing team left the court, and a new team of three popped on. If you won the point, you received. The newcomers served.

Mikaela found herself on a team with a shortish girl with short black hair and glasses and Kikuchi, the vice captain. Sudou had chosen to sit off and observe. Mikaela steeled herself, knowing she had to make a good impression. "I'm Mikaela," she said evenly, holding her hand out to Kikuchi. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Kikuchi chirped, beaming. "I'm looking forward to playing with you."

She straightened up, pleased, but judging by the glare Sudou was shooting their way, the captain had other plans. Mikaela turned to the third member of their trio. "Mikaela," the former manager said, holding out her hand. "I look forward to playing with you."

The girl looked startled but she accepted Mikaela's hand tentatively. "Shoko," she said quietly.

"What position do you play?"

Shoko shrugged. "I'm hoping for either libero or wing spiker."

Mikaela bit her lip and turned to Kikuchi. "And you said you're a wing spiker too, right?"

"That's right," she confirmed, her ponytail swinging.

"So no setter." Mikaela sighed, crossing her arms as the first rally unfolded on the court. "Alright, I can do it."

Kikuchi perked up. "You can set?"

"Yeah." _You don't spend so much time with Kageyama Tobio, a Youth Camp level setter, and don't learn a thing or two._ "Yeah, I prefer spiking, but I can set if you need me to." _Besides, I don't want to give Sudou any reason for me not to play._

"Alright, give it a shot." Kikuchi smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up, and the encouragement made Mikaela stand up a bit straighter. The rally ended, and their trio moved to their places on the court. "You want to serve, Mikaela?"

 _Do I ever._

"Sure." Mikaela took the volleyball, drumming it against the floor, and moved behind the line. Kikuchi and Shoko set up, and the other team seemed to be in place. She glanced at Sudou, who nodded. "Here goes," Mikaela muttered under her breath, tossing the ball.

She pulled off a jump serve and nailed the ball with her left hand, and even though the girl on the other team got into position, the ball spun off of her arms and way out of bounds. "Nice serve," Shoko said quietly, offering her a high five.

"Thanks," she replied with a smirk as the team on the other court switched off. "Say, I've been watching you play, and you're speedy. Have you done a quick attack before?"

"Yeah, in Junior High."

"Want to try one now?"

Shoko's eyes widened. "You can set for quick attacks?"

Mikaela shrugged. "We'll find out in a minute, if you're up for it."

"...Sure." She nodded slowly. "I'll try."

She held out her fist, offering a small smile. Her time with the boys' team was coming back to her. "Just trust in me and fly," she echoed, thinking of Kageyama. "You'll do great."

Kikuchi's receive was nearly picture perfect, and Mikaela put herself in a spot to set. She was no Kageyama, but her setting was passable. She'd tried quicks while working with Hinata and Kageyama in the gym, so the odds of this working was slim. She saw Shoko running forward and bit her lip- if this didn't work, Sudou would have a valid reason to pass on her for the team: over confident, too self-assured, cocky. But if she could pull this off?... Well, she'd prove that she had a reason to be here.

Mikaela volleyed the ball to Shoko, and even though it was a bit high, Shoko managed to turn it into a passable tip over the girl that had jumped to block. Mikaela beamed to herself as Shoko's tip worked like a charm, scoring them the point. "Nice set," Shoko said, smiling.

"A bit too high, actually, but nice improv," Mikaela amended with a laugh.

They stayed on for several more points before one of the girls on the other team made a perfect spike, making them lose the point and subbing them off.

Mikaela risked a glance at the captain. She was frowning at her.

 _What more do I have to do?_

Practice wrapped up, and Mikaela joined the rest of the girls in a crowded semi circle for the closing remarks. As much as she knew she had to listen, she half-tuned out the captain as she went over what she wanted to improve for next session. Eventually, Sudou clapped her hands together. "That's enough for today. Go get changed, and we'll see you tomorrow."

She didn't bother changing; she grabbed her belongings, tossed her backpack over her shoulder and started heading for the door. Mikaela sighed, taking a swig from her water bottle.

"Already not following orders, Mikaela?"

Mikaela stiffened, turning to face her captain. "Excuse me?"

"I'm teasing you. I mean, I said to go change," Sudou said, narrowing her eyes. "You're going to walk home in that?"

 _God, she's insufferable._ "I'm going to practice with the guys' team," she said calmly, trying to control her temper. _Give her no reasons to rule you off the team._ "If that's okay with you." _God damn it Kaisha._

Her eyebrows rose. "You practice with the boys' team?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem with that?"

 _Dumbass, if you could stop being passive aggressive for just one second-_

"Not at all. I'll see you tomorrow," Sudou replied eventually, crossing her arms.

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Captain."

She turned around and left the gym without looking back, ready to hammer a few spikes into someone's face.

* * *

"Thank you for sticking with us for the tryout session," Sudou concluded at the end of the third tryout. "A list will be posted outside the gym tomorrow morning."

The girls all started to chatter among themselves, then started heading towards the change rooms to pack up. Mikaela held the same routine as always: she shouldered her backpack and grabbed her water bottle, neglecting to change, and started to head out.

"Um, Mikaela?"

The black-haired girl pursed her lips and paused, turning to face Sudou. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to let you know, because I wasn't sure if you were aware," the captain said calmly, the faintest hint of smirk on her face. Her tone got more and more condescending as she spoke. "But when we're making the team, we can't pick favorites based on... _Internet popularity._ I'm sure you understand."

To hell with it. She'd had enough.

Mikaela mustered up the sweetest smile she could. "Oh, I totally understand. Just like how I'm sure you understand that I'm the reason you even have the liberty of choosing a team."

A beat.

Sudou's eyebrows knit together. Kikuchi was watching quietly from the side. "Excuse me?" she said haughtily, crossing her arms.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Mikaela said firmly, drawing herself up to her full height. "This is your first time in seven years that you've even been able to _have_ tryouts rather than people simply joining if they were interested. And I know you're not dumb, and if you're as obsessed with my Internet fame as you seem to be, then you're aware that a lot of these girls came to Karasuno because of me."

"I am _not_ obsessed with your Internet fame-"

Mikaela cocked her head. "Really? Because you're the only one that keeps bringing it up."

Sudou stopped cold. Mikaela hadn't felt this proud of herself since she shot down Yuka last year. Sudou glanced to Kikuchi, who shook her head, indicating that she wanted no part in this. She turned back to Mikaela. "I make this team," she said, but she sounded like she was trying to convince herself of that more than Mikaela. "I'm the captain. I'll be choosing, and if I decide you're not a good fit for the team, then what I say goes."

Mikaela laughed. "I'm the best you're got, and you know it."

"See, this kind of obnoxious attitude is what I have a problem with."

"You have a problem because I'm a good player and I'm aware of it?"

"No, because you're cocky and you're going to hinder our progress as a team." Sudou's lips pursed into a straight line. "As I hope you're aware, volleyball is a team sport, Mikaela. You won't win by yourself, especially if you can't get along with the team."

"Really?" Mikaela asked incredulously, starting to notice the crowd of girls gathering to listen in. "Because it seems like you're the only one I can't get along with because of your bias."

Sudou's eyes were furious. _"I'm_ the problem?"

Mikaela shrugged. "You tell me. I've practiced with almost every other girl at these tryouts and I've loved working with them. You haven't really participated, so I haven't got the chance to practice with you. No one else seem to has a problem with me, and if they do, I'd love for them to speak up. Is there anything in my skill set that isn't up to par with your standards? Because I'll work on it."

She'd left the captain speechless. The girls that were watching started whispering to each other.

"Look, I'm a good player. I know that." Mikaela sighed, running a hand through her hair and swiping her bangs out of her face. "If your only problem with me is that you think I'm entitled, maybe you could get to know me first and make conclusions later."

With that said, Mikaela turned and left the gym, knowing full well she probably just blew her chances of making the team, but feeling more satisfied with herself than she had in months.

* * *

"Don't worry," Ennoshita told her when she vented about it at the boys' practice. "If she doesn't suck up her pride, you can play with us."

"Like, manage?"

"No, play. You'll kick some ass and you'll make even more headlines." He turned to the court, and his face paled. "Nishinoya! Stop picking on the first years! God, Kageyama, leave Hinata alone!"

Mikaela laughed.

"Thanks, Captain."

* * *

Tsukishima snorted. "It'd be ridiculous if you don't make the team."

"Really?" she teased, grinning. "You think I'm good?"

He shot her a weird look. "You _know_ you're good. Why do you need to hear me say it?"

Mikaela shrugged. "It's different hearing it from you."

"Is that so?"

She hummed in response.

He sighed, adjusting his glasses and smirking at her. "You're going to make the team," he said firmly with a casual shrug, "because Michimiya-san wouldn't pick a captain who she thought couldn't handle the team. She just feels threatened by how good you are- my bet is that you're a better player than her and it makes her feel less valuable as a captain. Let me guess, she hasn't participated in any of the drills?"

Mikaela shook her head wordlessly, surprised at how solid his theory was. "You think so?"

"I know so," he confirmed.

"Thanks, Kei."

The use of his first name made him blush, but he still managed to smirk at her. "Whatever," Tsukishima said, keeping his eyes fixed on her. "Kaisha."

She laughed, heat pulsing behind her cheeks. "You're ridiculous."

"Hey, you confessed, this is what you get to deal with."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Of course not."

Mikaela sighed, feigning irritation. "God, I hate you."

His smirk grew. "No, you don't."

"No, I don't," she agreed, smiling at him. They were quiet for a minute, just staring at each other, and the words were hovering at Mikaela's lips. _I love you._ She debated it in her head- was it too soon? Tsukishima's feelings were hard to get right, what if he didn't feel the same? No, otherwise he wouldn't be dating her. Would he say it back? Was it-

She was cut off from her thoughts when her phone buzzed. Mikaela jolted herself out of her stare down with Tsukishima and picked up her phone, then sighed. "It's my mom. I've got to get going."

"Alright," Tsukishima replied, not even questioning it. The amount of trust they had in their relationship never failed to amaze her. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"See you," Mikaela echoed, kissing him quickly before she grabbed her backpack and coat and headed out the front door, cursing herself in her head. Why didn't she just say it? They were over three months in- that was plenty of time, right? Besides, they were close friends for a lot longer before that. _I love you._ "I love you," she said aloud, then immediately sighed and smacked her cheeks.

 _Idiot._

* * *

She ended up making the team.

Not only that, but Sudou approached her outside of practice to apologize. Although it sounded mildly forced and that she'd rather have done anything else (it looked like Kikuchi had dragged her out to apologize), Mikaela accepted it. She'd have been petty if she hadn't.

Besides, she had enough pettiness in her to cover all the of the Niiyama team. She didn't need to waste it on her own team.

* * *

Three weeks later, they were 'studying' at Tsukishima's house. Part of it was studying, but most of it was replaying videos of one of the teams from the Spring tournament. Mikaela was trying to study, honestly- but why study math when you can study volleyball plays?

Mikaela's smile stretched into a grin as she leaned across the desk, dragging the tiny cursor back ten seconds on the tablet. "Got it. Look at that." She pointed her finger at the opposing team. They were going over the video of Kamomedai against Karasuno. Even though it was a rough memory for both of them, Kamomedai was one of Tsukishima's favourite teams to watch- she didn't blame him, their blocking style and form were flawless- and it was hard to get any data on them. Sure, she was a player now, but she'd always be a manager.

"What?" Tsukishima asked, leaning closer to her to squint at the tablet.

She pointed at Kamomedai's giant blocker, the one who had been well over six and a half feet tall. "He pauses. Before going to block. Just for a half second."

"Blockers do that," he said with a snort.

"Yeah, but he's been jumping at everything with no hesitation," Mikaela explained, letting the scene play out. "Every once in a while, he pauses." They watched another block point in which the giant didn't hesitate at all, and that was when Hinata was jumping. "Wait, go forward, he's rotating into the back row." Mikaela narrowed her eyes as Tsukishima skipped the video forwards.

"There," he said quietly, jerking his chin at the screen. "He paused."

Mikaela nodded, grinning. "Yeah, you caught it. I think I know why."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes, propping his elbow up on the desk and settling his cheek into his palm. "Really, your Highness. Care to enlighten me?"

"It's you," she said immediately, and he stiffened. Mikaela turned back to the screen, worried she might be blushing. "Well, it's every time that you throw yourself into the attack at least. Because you're kind of lazy, you know?"

"Thanks."

"I mean that in the nicest way possible. When you throw yourself into the attack, you go all in, and Kamomedai must've caught on to how technical you are- they know you're smart. Plus, you're one of the only ones on the team who regularly uses tips, which makes you highly annoying." Mikaela cleared her throat awkwardly, still avoiding eye contact. "And as a team that specializes in blocking, you're their biggest problem."

Tsukishima spoke up. "Not Hinata? Or Azumane?"

"Nah, they've dealt with fast spikers or powerhouses like Asahi before, that's nothing new. What's new is anyone on their level of blocking, and you're basically there. The only difference is that you're working alone while they have their whole team- well, no, you're not actually alone, but you're the only up to that level of skill. You're ridiculously smart, and you know what they're thinking and how they'll move. While spikers like Hinata are focusing on how to blow their spike past, you're thinking of how they're seeing it."

Mikaela shrugged, tucking her bangs behind her ear. "He hesitates because he recognizes your intelligence, and if you do get the ball, you can handle it effectively. It'll be more effective once you finally learn how to rebound," she joked, finally looking at him.

He was staring at her with something in his eyes that Mikaela couldn't place. "What?" she asked, cocking her head.

Tsukishima shook his head, a small smile on his face. "God, I'm so in love with you."

She paused.

Mikaela was speechless.

Tsukishima seemed to realize what he said, but to her surprise, he didn't try and take it back. He huffed, breaking eye contact with her, his cheeks dusted pink. He looked like he wanted to say something, but thought the better of it and shut his mouth.

"Really?" Mikaela said, her voice somewhere between a squeak and a whisper.

He shrugged, still refusing to look at her. "Sorry."

"No, don't..." she trailed off. She reached across the table and took his hand, and the words tumbled out easily. "I love you too," Mikaela said honestly, unable to fight the smile on her face.

Tsukishima looked back to her, and Mikaela could see the relief flow through his expression. "Really?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "You're not just saying that because I said it?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it," she replied softly.

There was a pause, and then Tsukishima's shoulders relaxed and he sighed, visibly relieved. "Thank god," Tsukishima said, letting go of her hand to adjust his glasses. He leaned towards her and kissed her briefly.

"Idiot," Mikaela said with a giggle as he pulled away. "Did you really think I wouldn't feel the same?"

"Well, you initially confessed, so I guess I was next," he said with a smirk and a roll of his eyes. "You're up after, then. Your turn."

"What's after the I-love-yous?" the ex-manager asked, taking his hand again and tracing small circles on his palm with her thumbs. "Like, seriously. I have no clue."

"I guess you'll figure it out," he teased, leaning towards her.

She laughed. "I guess so," she amended quietly, pressing her lips to his.

No studying got done that day.

* * *

They took the Inter High by storm. The girls on the Karasuno team were by no means slackers, and Mikaela's motivation to improve and practice seemed to fuel the rest of the selected team. They were becoming a good team, ridiculously fast. Their starting line with composed of four third years, Mikaela, another second year, and one of the first year girls.

The first year girl on the starting roster was a middle blocker, and she was _good._ Takinihashi (she went by Taki for short) was over six feet tall and was similar to Tsukishima in play style, but opposite in personality. Apparently, she'd come to Karasuno because of Mikaela; the ex-manager had been flattered.

Their games went great. Better than great, actually. Mikaela was kicking some serious ass.

"Yes!" Mikaela yelled along with the rest of the team as Sudou sunk a spike into the back corner of the court to win the third set of the quarterfinals, 25 - 22. The girls gathered in a group hug, cheering loudly. They were going to the semis- this was better than Karasuno's girls had done in _years._ From what Mikaela heard, the last time Karasuno even made it to the quarterfinals was four years ago.

"That was awesome!" Taki cheered, high-fiving Mikaela.

She beamed and went around high-fiving and hugging the rest of the team. "Great job, great job, fantastic work," Mikaela said to each of her teammates as she went by them. "Rest up, we have our semifinal game in an hour."

"An hour?" Kikuchi said with a sigh, wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. "That's not much time."

"Who're we playing?" Shoko asked, turning to Sudou.

Sudou pinched her lips together and glanced at Mikaela, and the ex-manager knew who it was before she even said anything. "It's Niiyama, isn't it," Mikaela said quietly, clenching her hands into fists.

"I don't know for sure, but probably," their captain confirmed, and the girls collectively groaned. "We're most likely playing Niiyama. They had an easy match up."

"Hey, no sad faces!" Kikuchi said brightly, clapping her hands. "This is the best we've ever been. Besides, Mikaela, weren't you saying that a lot of Niiyama's best players just left?" The vice captain shot her a meaningful look, and Mikaela got the silent message.

"She's right," Mikaela said, trying to sound optimistic. "A lot of last year's line up was made up of third years, and they've graduated now. From the roster list, they've got a lot of newbies. I'm not sure who they'll play, but this is our chance. A lot of their heavy hitters and big names are gone now." She stuck her hand into the middle of the circle, letting her passion flood into her voice. "Besides, I've got a bone to pick with Niiyama," she said with a grin. "And I can't think of a better team to take them down."

Kikuchi beamed, sticking her hand in the middle. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Everyone stuck their hands in the middle, and Mikaela was relieved to see that nobody seemed pessimistic anymore. The girls looked pumped, with fire in their eyes and grins on their faces. _God, I love this team._

"Karasuno, fight!"

The hour went by faster than it should've. They met up again with the boys team, and Mikaela was thrilled to find out that they had won their quarterfinal game (not like she'd expected any less). Their semifinal started a bit before theirs, so Mikaela said her goodbyes and let them go to warm up. Before she knew it, they were back on the court and shaking hands, and she was staring at the red and white of the Niiyama uniform.

 _This is it. I'm finally going to play Niiyama. We're going to-_

"Mikaela," Kinomi greeted, reaching out to shake her hand from under the net and jolting Mikaela out of her daze.

She shook, smirking. "They finally let you on the court?"

The blonde's face had gone red. "We're going to make you regret staying at Karasuno."

She laughed. "Kinomi, believe me when I say there's absolutely nothing you could do or say to convince me otherwise."

The game was close. Karasuno managed to take Niiyama by surprise and take the first set, 27 - 25, but Niiyama caught up quicker than Mikaela would've liked and they took the second set 25 - 21. The third set was tight, and Karasuno gave it their all. Mikaela was stealing the show- she was one of the best players on the court, and her shiny metal prosthetic certainly turned some heads. She threw everything she had into the game; left-handed and right-handed serves, ridiculous receives, spikes, and anything else she could pull up.

The score was 24 - 24 when Kinomi nailed her jump serve and got a service ace, bringing Niiyama up to match point. Mikaela cursed under her breath, and Kinomi must've noticed her frustration because she laughed. "What, gonna throw your leg at me?" she taunted.

Mikaela was seriously considering it, but Kikuchi touched her arm. "Save it," she said. "Get the next one."

"Right," she replied through gritted teeth. She glanced up at the stands, where the boys were watching the game. They'd already won their semifinal game (at least, that was her guess, because they were looking particularly smug) and had showed up for the last set of theirs. She locked eyes with Kageyama, then sighed and turned back to the game.

Kinomi's next serve rocketed straight at her (she _so_ did that on purpose) and Mikaela received it nearly perfectly. As Karasuno's setter went to set the ball up, Mikaela ran forward from her spot in the back row, taking a page from Hinata's book. The blockers couldn't help but be drawn to her, but the set ended up going to Taki, who blasted it through. Tied up.

"Nice kill," she complimented, high-fiving Taki as she rotated up to the front row.

She beamed. "Nice fake."

Karasuno served, Niiyama received and spiked, and their libero received. Mikaela ran up to the net, setting up for a spike. She could feel it, this one was going to be good, she was going to smoke it straight past the blockers and-

Mikaela faltered.

Her leg cramped up as she went to push off, and she stumbled, missing the jump entirely. The ball, thankfully, went to the other side of the court, where Kikuchi got a picture-perfect block out. That was a break, they were up by one-

Mikaela sank to the floor, wincing as her left calf seized up in pain. "Fuck," she cursed, tears blurring her eyes. She could feel her teammates gathered around her, asking what was wrong and what was going on, and why she was clutching her leg, and suddenly her breathing was quicker and she couldn't see anything around her through the haze in her mind. The girls were making theories- did she pull something? Cramp up? Sprain something?

She hadn't had a leg cramp in almost a year.

Mikaela's breath hitched in her throat and she stretched out, trying to ease the pain. There were hands on her back, and her legs, and her shoulders, and she wanted them _off._ Why was she cramping? She'd had surgery, that was what the surgery was for, holy _shit_ she was having a panic attack in her game against Niiyama and they were literally one point away from winning and why couldn't people get _away_ from her and-

"Kaisha! Hey, breathe! Kai!"

She blinked. Someone grabbed her hands.

"There you go. Breathe. Come on, Kaisha, it isn't like last time."

Mikaela's vision started to clear, and she managed to make out Kageyama crouched in front of her, holding her hands. "Tobio," she hissed through her teeth, her voice coming out at a wheeze, "I thought I wasn't supposed to get cramps anymore, I had fucking _surgery_ for this shit-"

Kageyama shifted, tugging at her hands lightly. "Let's get you off the court."

She nodded blearily and allowed Kageyama to pull her to her feet, wincing as her calf flared up again in pain. "I've got her, it's fine," she heard Kageyama saying, and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and allowed him to guide her off the court. The cramp was subsiding, but tiny flares of pain told her that it wasn't completely gone.

"Mikaela." Kageyama paused and turned her to Sudou. "Go get that checked out," she instructed, frowning at her. "And get some rest. We'll wrap this up here."

Mikaela nodded, her head swimming.

She was out.

At the most crucial point of the game.

 _Fuck._

Kageyama helped her towards the gym doors, and through the tears in her eyes, she saw Tsukishima standing by the door, looking more worried than she'd ever seen him. "Kei," she forced out, and Tsukishima moved to her free side and wrapped his arm around her back.

"To the nurse," he said quietly, his hand curling around her hip. He guided her other hand around his shoulders, and he and Kageyama started walking her down the hall together. The door to the gym closed behind them and Mikaela snapped out of her daze.

"I'm fine," she insisted, blinking rapidly.

She felt Kageyama shift. "Kaisha, let's just go the nurse."

"No, seriously, I'm fine!" she snapped, shaking her arm off of his shoulder. She extracted herself from Tsukishima and stood up straight, trying to prove that the cramp was gone for good. "Look, it was just a cramp, it's gone now."

"Then what was all that?" Tsukishima snapped back, gesturing at the doors to the gym. "Mikaela, you-"

"I panicked, okay?" Mikaela yelled, her temper fried. "I haven't had cramps in almost a year! That was what that surgery was supposed to be for! I just panicked, I thought it was my injury or something dumb. I didn't think! It's fine now!"

"Kaisha," Tsukishima started.

Kageyama stepped forwards. "Kai, calm down-"

She cut him off. "Well, Kei, you got a cramp during that game against Kamomedai last year! Right? You know that these things happen! Just let me play!" Tsukishima tried to move towards her and Mikaela pushed against his chest, not enough to shove him back but enough to halt him. "You don't understand! This is our chance! We were about to win! I was playing! We were going to beat Niiyama! I can play, I can play! I can..."

Tsukishima reached out and wrapped his arms around her, tucking her into his chest. Mikaela started crying again, curling herself into his chest and deflating. "Mikaela, you had a panic attack," he said softly, resting his chin on top of her head. "You need a break."

Mikaela finally gave in. Kageyama stood off to the side awkwardly, watching as Tsukishima cradled her into his chest, his hands rubbing her back. Although Mikaela couldn't see, the boys exchanged a glance and nodded to each other.

"It's not fair," she cried into her boyfriend's chest. "It's not fair."

She didn't see Niiyama beat Karasuno, 28 - 26, but it hurt all the same.

* * *

 **Okay so I lied- second year WAS going to only be two or three chapters and it spanned into five. Thanks to _jily shiper_ for helping me plan out the next couple chapters. It's wild but I actually had a lot of fun with it! Still a bit overwhelming but I mean I have to stall through chapters somehow, right? At least until the manga's gone on a little longer.**

 **Sayori1412:** I know, I'm a fan of her long hair too T^T but with one of the recent chapters, it was mentioned that you really shouldn't have long hair for volleyball and I realized that all the girls that they've shown have short hair so... Sigh. I'm trying to minimize the amount of new characters I introduce but at least they all have personality? Sort of? I think? Anyways, thank you so much for your kind review! :)

 **SoccerSarah01:** Of course you're not annoying, I almost cried when I saw your reviews! You're much too kind! I'm so glad you liked it, and trust me, I'm trying to find ways to incorporate my beautiful third years into future chapters but second year is already packed as heck so... UGH this is so hard T^T Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **hannymae:** It hurt me to write! I wanted to let her play in Olympics or something but it just... didn't make sense. Like, Paralympics. But I'll work something out- I've got a couple ideas. Thank you! I'm glad you're looking forward to second year- so was I until it ended up spreading out over five chapters at eight thousand to eleven thousand words each, yikes... I'm still excited but it was a lot of... events? A lot of eventful things to fit into something that should've been three chapters maximum, aha. Thank you for your great review as always! :)

 **Swaggishima:** I know, right?! Why are we only getting a Kageyama backstory now?! Thanks again for the movement of this to Wattpad- I really can't thank you enough. I'm so glad that more people are enjoying it. Thanks again, and thank you for your review! :D

 **Zoreux:** I HAD A PANIC ATTACK I WAS LIKE NOOOOOO MY STORY IS CENTERED SO MUCH AROUND KAGEYAMA HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME but then I realized it could've been much worse, so at least I was close? Ish? Not sure how I'm going to handle the Brazil stuff but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Thanks so much for your review! :)

 **Shadow Wolf 15846:** I've got a couple ideas of what I want her to do in the future! Just because she can't do Olympics doesn't mean she still can't play... I'm trying to work out a couple things, but it's not set in stone yet. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **luvielle:** You already KNOW Oikawa pretends he's rich but he's actually broke af XD I'm covering second and third year for sure and maybe a bit before the Jackals/Adlers match because there's some stuff I want to do... Next chapter's going to be rough but if you can make it through that, the next few will be easy ;) Of course she's going to steal his hoodie again! Just wait... Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Averi-nova:** Of course! How could I possibly do this without snippets of the boys?! I love them! She literally spent all of her first year with them, I can't abandon them now T^T I'm definitely considering it! Second year was a bit too chaotic already in terms of what I have planned, but I like the idea of a boys-versus-girls game and I think I'm going to throw that into the third year! Thank you for the suggestion, and thank you for your kind review! :D

 **Padgent:** I don't think I'll ever bring myself to like Yuka and Kahano, but what can I say? High school girls suck. Yeah, I just graduated high school last year and writing that was giving me all of the bittersweet vibes. Takes me back. Anyways, thank you very much for your review! :)

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** Her hair was pretty long! In the cover photo you can kind of see it- it was definitely at least waist level, and she cut it up to an inch or two below her shoulder. I wanted to leave it long but I realized most players don't have their hair long so... T^T I'm glad you enjoyed, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Siera-Knightwalker:** I've suckered another one in XD I'm glad you finally caved! I know what you mean, I've seen a couple sort-of-satisfactory OC stories, which really destroys the faith in finding a good one. I'm so glad you're enjoying it now! I was debating for a long time if she should catch Hinata's fever early or something along those lines, but I ended up opting out of it- it was a hard decision, but we don't even know who canonically won nationals that year and i didn't want to push my luck. Anyways, thank you so much for bingeing this and giving it a shot! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **SupMyDudez:** I didn't even think about that! That's such a good idea, I'm definitely considering putting that in somewhere in a future chapter. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **AnneNonimus:** I'm so glad you liked it! Readers pointing out their favourite lines always makes me smile, I'm glad you found half of it hilarious XD Thank you so much! Incorporating Miwa wasn't too hard but it was a curveball, for sure. Thank you for your review! :)

 **S. yons:** I sent you a PM because I didn't know if you'd see this ;) When you make it here, thank you so much for your kind words and your reviews! :D

 **Guestwithout:** Don't worry, I will! Not abandoning this anytime soon ;) I'm trying to space out the chapters, because I don't want to hit a point where I have to wait for the manga before I post a chapter. I'm trying to let the manga get a little more ahead if I can. Thank you for your review! :)

 **Also if you thought this chapter hurt then just wait til next chapter- y'all are going to be after my neck yikes**


	54. The Disaster

**Thank you kindly to Zoreux, haikyuurarepairs, Sayori1412, Remnae, sndlr, Yuuki Hitsuguya, Jaysmwithfrogs, S. Yons, Averi-nova, Tobi Rose, milywayheartcupcake, Frenchie is French, SoccerSarah01, Sadashi, yangri, Siera-Knightwalker, Swaggishima, jily shiper, luvielle, Anne Nonimus, wolfviking, Shad0w cat, channingayle02, jinchurikimask, AnimePan9086, blazersglazers, ZaneLoverFan88, kyuppi, mayanruins, triciatyt03, AquaAmaryllis, Chanaenae17, MaxLop, UKSkyhawk1, Readingswirls, Yuuki Hitsuguya, ran. jk, Aisucchi, Ayma Hore, Ragityannie, washerenowgone, Silverfox579, Via-lee863, CavaKel, RilakkumaXLove, sophiabulbu, Sabishii 'Shii' Suta, rhcharicharan, TECKK, Zo1270, wus poppin B, MavyMae, zyxeri16, Stephiiiglo, NightmareGalaxy, terabytes19, Hanajima-Senpai, and Tari Luinwe for your amazing support!**

 **There's so many of you oh my gosh, I hope I don't scare you off with this chapter-**

* * *

Their loss from the Inter High _hurt._

Mikaela let herself be mad about it for a day. It was weird, because she was normally an 'explosive' sort of angry, in which she just wanted to yell and hit things and cry until all of her energy had left her body.

Losing to Niiyama gave her silent fury. She fumed to herself, her mind blank and her blood boiling. She was mildly unresponsive too, and Kageyama pointed it out. That was when it hit her- if Kageyama noticed, then it must've been bad, so she did her best to swallow her anger for the time being and transform it into motivation. At least, that was the plan.

The boys lost in the finals against Date Tech. It had been a tight match all the way through, but Mikaela's heart broke for them all the same. She could feel the frustration from all of them, particularly Tsukishima. He'd been modeling a lot of his technique off of Date Tech, so that must've stung.

Mikaela upped her practice time. She went in with Kageyama in the early morning then jumped over to the girls' practice when they showed up for training, then trained after school with the girls' team and sometimes the boys' team when the girls had the night off. Even then, whenever practice was finished in the afternoon, Mikaela just headed over to the other gym with the guys. There was always someone there, no matter how often Ennoshita tried to kick everyone out at a reasonable hour. She'd even managed to set up a miniature gym in her basement to train on the weekends.

She wasn't strong enough. She wasn't fast enough. She needed to be better, stronger, smarter: that wasn't going to happen by sitting around.

"Mikaela," Sudou asked her one morning as she stretched gently, leading their stretches for their early morning practice, "how are you always so energetic this early in the morning?"

Kikuchi hummed in response, leaning forwards to touch her toes. "You're always way more pumped up than the rest of us."

She shrugged. "I'm a morning person."

"How?" Taki complained, struggling to reach her toes. It wasn't really her fault; she had long legs. "I can barely drag myself out of bed!"

"I get up at 5:30 ish most mornings, actually."

 _"What?"_ several girls on the team chorused in astonishment.

"What do you do for the hour and a half before practice?" Shoko asked curiously, folding her legs into a butterfly position and curling in on herself.

Mikaela shrugged again. "Depends. I go on runs with Tobio for a bit and then we head to the guys' gym, if Shoyo wants to go, which is almost always. We do that for an hour and then I come down here for seven."

The girls all stared at her blankly, and she frowned. _What?_ "You mean to tell me," Sudou said evenly, "that you've been practicing for over an hour already?"

"Yep."

"What about the mornings we don't have practice?"

"Training with the guys."

"Weekends?"

"Work out, practice in the park with Tobio."

"Do you still get up at 5:30 on weekends?" Taki said with a gasp.

Mikaela laughed. "No, I sleep longer on weekends. Sometimes as late as ten, or eleven."

The group collectively released a sigh, relieved that she was sort of normal after all. "I don't get up until two on the weekends," Shoko muttered, and a few of the other girls hummed in agreement. Mikaela understood the not-wanting-to-get-up, but two in the afternoon? A bit wasteful.

They launched into their morning drills, and Mikaela was trying to work on her left-handed jump serves. The jump was ridiculously difficult; she couldn't get far enough off the ground for the serve to be as powerful as her other one. She was starting to get the hang of it, but it was still taking a lot of time- shifting the weight to her right foot helped, but she had to balance it properly, and if she did it perfectly then she got just the right amount of spring from her prosthetic, and-

"Mikaela."

She blinked herself out of her thoughts, and looked up to see Sudou. "Captain. What's up?"

"I think..." Sudou trailed off and glanced at the court, where the team was practicing serves. Kikuchi's jump serve had saved them from many tight spots in the Inter High, and from the looks of it, it was only getting better. "Firstly, I admire your dedication to the team," she started, and Mikaela already knew where this was going. "I appreciate what you've put forward. And I think I speak for everyone when I say we wouldn't have gotten as far in the Inter High as we did without you."

The praise made her smile. "Thank you," Mikaela said genuinely, squeezing the volleyball in your hands.

"But," the captain continued, and Mikaela had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, "you do have the tendency to over work yourself. Make sure you're taking care of yourself first, alright?"

"Thanks for the concern, Captain, but I'm okay. Trust me, taking myself out of volleyball because I spent too much time practicing volleyball would be some bad irony." She laughed, trying to work some humor into the conversation that was meant to be serious. "I take care of myself, don't worry."

"Alright," Sudou said cautiously, clearly not believing her but ready to let it drop. "Go back to serves."

"Yes, Captain."

* * *

"Mikaela."

How far could she lean on her right to balance it out? There had to be some sort of physics behind it. Maybe she could talk to her mom about fixing her prosthetic up with compression springs? No, Hujita had already said that letting her play with a prosthetic was a gamble, if she added anything to it that enhanced her performance she'd be screwed.

"Mikaela. _Mikaela!"_

What if she just got an entirely new prosthetic? Would that help he jump any better? Or would she be more used to the old one? Granted, she had enough height now to clear the net, but the higher the better. What if she-

 _"Kaisha!"_

A hand on her shoulder made her flinch. Mikaela jerked her eyes up and nearly blanked when she saw Yamaguchi. "Tadashi?" she said stupidly, shaking her head. "What's up?"

"We're closing up," he pointed out, nodding to Ennoshita. "He's been trying to get your attention for the past minute." Mikaela waved in sheepish apology, but the Karasuno captain just waved her off, turning to separate Nishinoya from one of the first years that he was harassing. "You okay? You were tuned out."

"What? Oh, I'm fine," Mikaela said easily. She perked up and spun in a circle, looking for Kageyama. "Tobio! Run later?"

"Sure," he called back, pulling the net off the pole.

"You sure you're okay?" Yamaguchi asked again, frowning at her. "You've been distant lately."

 _Me? Distant?_ She laughed. "I see you guys more than ever," she teased, tossing her volleyball into the cart. "With me jumping into your practices and all. I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning?" Mikaela's eyes sought out Tsukishima and she smiled at him.

She didn't read into the pained expression on his face.

Maybe she should've.

* * *

Mikaela knew she promised to take care of herself, but it was starting to get a bit out of hand.

The tournament to qualify for nationals was three days away. She didn't even realize how deep she'd sunk into the depths of volleyball until Tsukishima asked if she wanted to watch a movie, and she sort of shrugged and said she'd be fine just watching volleyball videos.

"Seriously?" he said incredulously.

Mikaela blinked, glancing up from her phone (which was playing a match of Niiyama at the Spring Tournament last year) and absently pausing the match. "Unless you want to watch a movie," she said slowly.

Tsukishima raised his eyebrows at her. "That's why I asked, dumbass."

"Yeah, sure. I'll finish this one later." She turned off her phone and tucked it in her jacket pocket, then looked back up at her boyfriend. He had a weird expression on his face, which wasn't uncommon of Tsukishima, but she could see the mixed feelings as clear as day. "What is it?" Mikaela asked, frowning.

"I'm going to be honest with you because, frankly, I'm pretty sure the idiot King hasn't noticed."

Mikaela frowned. This didn't sound good.

"Mik, you..." he trailed off, huffing and running his hand through his hair. It was starting to grow out. "You're getting addicted."

"Addicted?" she repeated, and Tsukishima set his lips in a flat line. "Wait, to volleyball?"

"What else would it be, idiot?"

"I'm not addicted," Mikaela insisted, leaning back in her chair. "I'm just trying to improve. You get that, right?"

Tsukishima sighed. "I do. It's just... well, to put it bluntly, you've been spending more time in the gym than anywhere else." Mikaela was about to protest but he cut her off. "And even when you're not in the gym, you're watching videos. Or working out at home. We barely ever go out anymore."

"We're busy," she protested feebly.

" _I'm_ not."

Mikaela frowned, then stiffened when something clicked in her head. "Are you _jealous?_ That I spend more time playing volleyball than with you?"

Tsukishima bit his tongue, choking back some sort of wise crack, before he groaned. "No, idiot. I'm not _jealous._ Besides, that's not the issue here. You're obsessed and you're overworking yourself, and it's not healthy."

"Kei, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Of course!"

"When was the last time you hung out with Yachi-chan?" Mikaela opened her mouth to say just yesterday, then Tsukishima added, "outside of practice."

She snapped her jaw shut. She couldn't remember.

Tsukishima smirked slightly, and Mikaela clenched her hands into fists in her lap. "Thought so. Look, Mik, just take it easy. You're going to end up injuring yourself and then you'll be out for the season. Nothing wrong with practice, but maybe you can suck it up and hang out with me every once in a while."

Mikaela frowned. "I do! We do hang out- we're hanging out right now!"

"Yet we're watching volleyball videos, which is all we've done for the past few weeks. Christ, Kaisha, do I really need to say it?" She had no idea what he was talking about, so she dug her fingernails into her thigh and waited. Tsukishima sighed. "I miss you."

It felt like someone was pulling on her heart strings. "I'm right here," she said, her voice nearly breaking.

"Are you?" he said quietly, and she was surprised to hear the disappointment and hurt in his voice.

Mikaela wanted to speak up, wanted to protest that yes, she was here and she was listening, and that she never intended to let volleyball get between them- _god,_ they met because of volleyball, how ironic was this- but she didn't know what to say. Sure, she'd been zoning out, and sure, she wasn't hanging out with them as often as she used to, but...

Without saying a word, Mikaela grabbed her notes from the table and jammed them into her backpack. With a quick zip, it was closed. She stood up, unable to meet his eyes, and turned around. She headed to the front door of Tsukishima's house, slipped her shoes on, and left, being careful not to slam the door on her way out.

Blinking tears out of her eyes, she made it back to her own house. Her mother wasn't home yet, which was good; not that she would've said anything anyways.

Mikaela hurled her backpack across her room, holding back a scream. She wanted to hit something, break something, scream at someone, anyone until every last drop of her temper had been expelled and she was left with no energy in her body.

Instead, she went for a run.

Her run lasted almost two hours, but by the time she was done, Mikaela was still pissed off.

* * *

When she vented about it to Kageyama the next morning at practice, she noticed he was being carefully neutral, which infuriated her. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" Mikaela complained, crossing her arms. "You know how important volleyball is. Spring Tournament is literally in two days."

"I'm with you," he assured her. After a pause, he added, "you know what, though?"

"What?"

"If Tsukishima's chasing you down because he thinks you don't hang out enough, then you know it's serious. That prick misses you and that's his way of putting it." Kageyama shrugged. "Never thought he'd be the one out of you two to think you weren't spending enough time together."

Mikaela's eyebrows shot to the top of her head. "Oh, so you're siding with him now?"

"That's not what I'm doing, Kaisha. I'm just saying-"

"This is ridiculous," she huffed, cutting him off. "I'm going to my own practice."

Mikaela grabbed her bag from the side of the gym as Kageyama called, "your practice doesn't start for half an hour!" but she was too pissed off to care. She ended up sitting outside the girls' gym until Sudou showed up at 6:50 to open it up.

Why didn't anyone get it? Hell, Kageyama, of all people, was supposed to understand.

* * *

Normally, she'd stay at the girls' afternoon practice until the allotted time slot was up, and then she'd join the boys and work with them once all the girls left. Mikaela wasn't really in the mood for that, for once. "Hey, Sudou?" she asked as the girls started to head to the change rooms. "Can I stay late? I'll lock up."

Sudou raised her eyebrows. "Not going to practice with the boys?"

"Nah, not today."

"Sure." She shrugged. "I'll grab you the key and I'll put it in your jacket pocket. Don't stay too late and return it to me tomorrow morning, okay? Tomorrow's the last practice before the tournament, and I don't need you exhausted."

"Sounds good. Thanks, Captain."

Mikaela served to an empty court, taking ball after ball from the cart and launching herself into a jump serve. If she could just get more power on her left-handed serve... She frowned to herself as the ball curved and dipped out of bounds. She wished she had someone to point out her tells, like she could do. Maybe if she took a video of herself or something.

Mikaela debated the idea, then sighed. _I have to work on getting a serve in bounds, first._

She tossed another volleyball up, then heard, "I hoped I wouldn't find you here."

Startled, Mikaela froze, letting the ball fall to the ground. She turned and straightened up. "Hey, Kei," she said before she turned around again, remembering that they'd just fought yesterday. She leaned down to pick up the dropped ball, then backed up so she was in place to serve again. "Practice over?"

"Just about, yeah," Tsukishima replied. Mikaela tossed the ball and dashed forward, jumping into a left-handed serve. It hit the top of the net and tumbled over. Sighing, she turned around and headed back to the cart. "Hey."

"What?" she called, trying not to snap at him.

"Walk home?"

Mikaela hesitated, her fingers light on the next volleyball in the cart. Absolutely. Yes, she still wanted to. But she had the gym for the night... and she'd just fought with Tsukishima yesterday... and...

Tsukishima sighed, crossing his arms. "Seriously? This is a debate now?"

"I'm sorry," she said with a scowl. "I was just in the middle of working on something-"

"For the fifth time this week?"

"Practice makes perfect."

"Not if you're exhausted."

"I'm not tired."

He raised his eyebrows. "You slept through English class today."

Mikaela shrugged indifferently. "It was boring."

Tsukishima pursed his lips, clearly wanting to say something else but deciding against it. Mikaela frowned, internally daring him to say it. "Kaisha, let's go," he said, an edge creeping into his tone that Mikaela didn't like. "Let's go back to my place. We can finish up that English homework, watch a movie, and you can sleep over."

"We will," she promised, but it was clear that he didn't believe her, judging by how he raised his eyebrows at her. "Look, I'm almost done. Then we can."

"Done?" Tsukishima scoffed. "Are you ever done?"

She stiffened. His voice was heavy. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what I've been telling you for the past week, Kaisha," he said, and Mikaela could hear his voice tip from light to dark through his words. "You're obsessed. It's not good."

"What do you have against me playing volleyball?" she interrupted, dropping the volleyball back into the cart. "Am I not allowed to be good? I thought you were supposed to support me through this."

"You really want to accuse me of not supporting you? Because that conversation won't go well."

Mikaela scowled. "No, that's not what I meant. But since when do you have a problem with me practicing?"

"Since you stopped caring about yourself," Tsukishima shot back, his voice gradually becoming colder. "One of these days, Mik, it's going to catch up to you. You're going to injure yourself or collapse and I'm not going to be there-"

"That day," Mikaela said fiercely, "is _not_ today. And as long as I'm physically able to practice, I'm going to!"

"Look, I get it-"

"No, you really don't!"

Tsukishima groaned. "Kaisha, god. Fine, I don't get it. Going so long without volleyball was horribly traumatic and now you're trying to make up for it. I get that. But there's only so much you can do. You're shutting out so much of your life, and for what- more practice? For a few high school games?"

She grit her teeth. "This is all I have! I can't play competitively, you know that. These tournaments are my last shot."

"That doesn't give you an excuse to destroy yourself along the way!"

"I'm not!" Mikaela protested, her temper flaring. "I know my limits, Kei! I can take care of myself! Why can't you just... just support me?"

Tsukishima looked more frustrated with her than she'd ever seen in her life. "Kaisha, I love you, but sometimes..." he sighed quietly, then continued, his voice firm, "sometimes it's really hard to be with you."

Something broke inside of her, and the words tumbled out before she could stop them.

"Then maybe you shouldn't be."

She regretted saying it as soon as she heard the words out loud. The last time she'd stopped Tsukishima so completely in his tracks was when she'd confessed to him, and just thinking about that made her heart burn painfully in her chest. "You're serious," he said slowly, waiting for her to say something else.

"No," Mikaela defended, shaking her head. "No, that's not what I meant, I just-"

"I'm pretty sure that's exactly what you meant," he snapped coldly.

Mikaela couldn't speak. She just stared, her mouth pinched in an angry line with tears pricking the corners of her eyes.

"Wow," Tsukishima said, huffing out a laugh. It wasn't pleasant; it was cruel and filled with anger. "This is what I get for caring. God, Mikaela, I thought you were smarter than your bone-headed cousin."

"Don't talk about him like that," she snapped.

Tsukishima shook his head, a smirk still on his lips. "I guess I was wrong. About a lot of things."

He turned on his heel and left the gym, the door slamming behind him.

Mikaela stared at the door for at least thirty seconds before reality slapped her in the face and she burst into tears.

* * *

She dragged herself home fifteen minutes later after she'd taken down everything in the gym, and she'd never felt so numb. Mikaela pocketed the key, knowing she'd have to remember it again tomorrow morning. She let her brain run on autopilot to take her home, because if she started to use her brain at all, she was going to burst into tears.

"You're back early," her mother remarked from the kitchen when she opened the door.

Mikaela couldn't even generate the will to say anything back, but knowing that her mother would probably be suspicious if she didn't, she forced out, "needed a break."

"About time," she called back, and tears flooded her eyes again. Had she really never been taking breaks? Was it that bad that her mother, who worked more often than Mikaela played volleyball, had picked up on it?

She went down the stairs to her room and locked the door, throwing herself on the bed and burying her face into the pillow. She'd thought she was out of tears, but apparently not. She picked up her phone, wondering if there was anyone she could call or talk to. Would anyone care? She hadn't talked to most of the people in her contacts in a long time.

"Oh my god," Mikaela said quietly.

He was right.

She'd been isolating herself, and now she had no one. Tsukishima had been there for her, no matter how busy she made herself, and in the end, she'd shut him out. Now, she didn't even know if she could call Kageyama.

Tears started leaking down her cheeks again and she pressed on Yachi's contact, then immediately swiped out. Then Yamaguchi's, and she hesitated before she turned her phone off. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi were best friends, and even though her money was on Tsukishima not telling Yamaguchi anything, she was sure he'd find out that they broke up.

Oh my god, they _broke up._

And it was all her fault.

"Fuck," Mikaela said, and a weak chuckle bubbled out of her lungs. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. "It's my fault," she whispered to her phone. "It's all my fault."

She stayed in her bed, crying on and off until her mother called her up for dinner. Mikaela convinced her to let her eat in her basement, saying she wasn't feeling well. Her mother had sighed but obliged, and even put a few cookies on her plate as a treat. When Mikaela saw the cookies, she started crying again. She curled up on her bean bag chair with a mass of blankets, eating dinner while something dumb played on the television.

Her phone buzzed, and Mikaela jumped for it, praying that it was Tsukishima but knowing that it wasn't. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

 ** _Kageyama Tobio (18:45):_** _Did you still want to run tonight?_

Oh god, she said she'd run with Kageyama tonight.

When was the last time she'd hung out with Kageyama outside of training or practicing? He was her best friend, practically her brother- and she'd shut him out too. Fresh tears rushed to her eyes and she groaned, wishing she could be done with crying.

Mikaela hesitated, then sighed and pressed on Kageyama's contact, pressing the call button.

 _I've got to start salvaging these friendships while I still can, I guess._

The phone rang once, twice, and on the third ring Mikaela was considering just giving up when he finally picked up the phone. _"Kaisha? Did you get my text?"_ he said, and the sound of his voice instantly put Mikaela a bit more at ease.

"Yeah," she said, and she sighed. "Go without me."

 _"You sure?"_

"Yeah."

 _"Okay."_ He paused. _"You called just to tell me that?"_

Mikaela smirked slightly to herself- he saw right through her, as always. "Not really. Do you... do you want to come over after your run? Watch a movie with me or something?"

 _"Sure,"_ he said without hesitation, and Mikaela's shoulders sagged in relief. _"Kaisha, you sound weird. Are you okay?"_

"Yeah." There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Mikaela slumped further into the chair. "Tobio," she said, her voice dangerously close to a whimper as she tried to force the words out. "Tsukishima and I broke up."

A pause. Then, _"I'm going to kill him."_

"Not his fault," she said immediately, hiccuping. "Tobio, it wasn't his fault."

Kageyama was silent for a moment, then asked, _"Are you at home?"_ When she replied that yes, she was, he said, _"_ _I'll_ _be there in ten minutes."_

Mikaela straightened up. "Wait- Tobio!"

He had already hung up.

She sprung up from the bean bag chair in a panic. _I can't let him see how much of a mess I am._ In a blind panic and sudden urge to clean, Mikaela threw out all of her garbage and nearly broke her plate from how hard she dropped it on the far table. She changed as fast as she could, from her sloppy volleyball clothing to a semi-nice hoodie and track pants. Desperately, she tried to run a brush through her hair. When she glanced at herself in the mirror, she was pleased to note that her eyes weren't even that red.

"I'm okay," Mikaela said firmly as she yanked the brush through her hair. "I'm okay," she repeated, giving the brush one final yank and leaving her hair to fall flat against her head. The mantra echoed in her head. _I'm okay. I'm okay._

The doorbell rang from upstairs, and Mikaela listened as her mother answered the door. "Kaisha? Oh, she's in her room," her mother said, and Mikaela heard the sound of her cousin's footsteps on the stairs.

She inhaled slowly and opened her door as he appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Kai," he said, and Mikaela nearly melted when she saw he was holding a grocery bag full of food. "You good?"

Her facade crumbled (god it hadn't even been ten seconds what was wrong with her) and Mikaela started to cry again. Kageyama ushered her into her room and closed the door, settling her on the couch. He curled up next to her and Mikaela cried into his shoulder, completely embarrassed and humiliated but unable to do anything other than cry. Kageyama wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her tight, his eyes fixed on the wall.

When Mikaela's crying slowed down to soft sniffles and hiccups, Kageyama sat up and reached for the bag he brought. Mikaela lifted her eyes as he pulled out a box. "Cookies?" he offered.

She hiccuped and nodded. Kageyama tore open the box and held it out for her, and she took two. "Th- Thank you," Mikaela mumbled, trying to calm herself down.

Kageyama looked uncomfortable, but to his credit, he was doing a fantastic job of being exactly what she needed. "Do you..." he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Mikaela knew she had to. "I... Yeah. I should."

"Okay." He scooted over on the couch so that he could sit cross-legged, facing her. "When did it happen?"

"Today. After practice."

"What... What was it about?"

She thought about how best to bring it up, and eventually gave up. "Tobio," Mikaela whispered, and she'd never felt worse about anything in her life. "It was my fault. It was all my fault. He was just trying to help, and... and I pushed him away. And I pushed you away. And I've pushed _everyone_ away and now I'm- I'm screwed. It's all my fault."

Kageyama didn't say anything, so she just kept rambling, the words flowing out of her easily. "He was telling me I- I was putting volleyball before everything else and that it was affecting my- my- my health," she croaked, desperately trying to catch her breath as she caught on so many different words, "and I thought it was so dumb, because I- I- I was feeling fine, and I was h- healthy for the first time in high school and now I can play, but I've ruined every- _everything_ around me, and- and-"

"Hey," Kageyama said, taking hold of her shoulders. "Take it easy."

Mikaela nodded and shakily exhaled, tears stinging her eyes. "S- Sorry."

"You've got nothing to apologize for," he said calmly, squeezing her shoulders. "You-"

"No, I do," she insisted, sitting herself up straight. "I've... I've ruined a lot of the friendships I made in first year. We used to... We used to be a lot closer." Mikaela met Kageyama's gaze and held it, despite her watery eyes. "I'm sorry I've lost touch."

He shrugged. "It's fine. Like I said, nothing to apologize for."

"But..."

Kageyama frowned. "We still hang out a lot. It's just a lot more volleyball than it used to be. If you want, we can... we can do other stuff."

A laugh bubbled from her chest. "Yeah, that'd be nice," Mikaela said with a smile, wiping her eyes. Her smile slowly died and she sighed, her shoulders sagging. "I can't believe it took this," she said bitterly, referring to the break up, "for me to realize how dumb I am. I... He kept telling me. Saying that I was getting obsessed. I was so confused- I just didn't get what he meant. And now it's too late."

Mikaela sighed, tears sprouting from her eyes for the umpteenth time that day, and she looked up at her cousin. "Tobio, I think I ruined one of the best things that's ever happened to me," she said weakly.

Kageyama's gaze was steely and unreadable. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I think..." she trailed off. "I think I ruined it. Beyond repair. I don't..." Mikaela deflated, sinking into the couch. "Kei holds grudges," she murmured, the depressing reality of her brilliant boyfriend- now, ex- sinking in. "He's stubborn. And he was in the right. If I try to apologize, I don't think he'll accept it."

"Are you going to try?"

She shrugged helplessly.

Kageyama sighed and leaned forwards, taking her hands. "Kaisha," he said quietly, locking eyes with her, "Tsukishima's a dick."

Mikaela snorted. "I know."

"And you're right. He's stubborn. He holds grudges. Did Ennoshita tell you about the time Hinata nearly hit him in the back of the head with a serve and Tsukishima didn't let him forget it for at least two weeks?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling softly. "Yeah, I heard about that."

He smiled wryly. "Yeah. Well, I don't know if you've been able to tell, but Ennoshita definitely has." Kageyama cleared, clearly feeling a bit awkward about the whole thing, but he went on anyways. "We were on the sideline during practice, and he told me that he's noticed how Tsukishima's much more agreeable since he had started dating you." He paused. "Even Yamaguchi said that he looked happier."

That just brought a fresh wave of tears to her eyes. Mikaela blinked rapidly, trying to avoid them.

"Look. I don't know much about your relationship- and it's none of my business, plus I don't really care, as long as he doesn't hurt you-" Mikaela couldn't help but roll her eyes- "but it seems like you want to do something about it."

"I do," she agreed, surprised at how much he was talking. Kageyama was never talkative. "But I... I don't think he wants anything to do with me right now."

He shrugged. "Only one way to find out."

Together, they opened up Mikaela's phone and brought up Tsukishima's name. Mikaela shakily typed out a quick text and held it out for Kageyama to see. He read it and nodded, and Mikaela exhaled shakily and pressed send.

"Good?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Not really."

"Movie?"

"Yeah."

So they curled up together and Kageyama put on some television show that they normally watched together, and Mikaela opened up the bag of food that he brought and pulled out a bag of chips. They watched and they snacked, with her head on Kageyama's shoulder. She opened her phone and added one last text to what she had sent Tsukishima, then set her phone to silent and set it on the table.

For a while, it didn't feel like it was the end of the world.

* * *

Tsukishima was in his bedroom, headphones tucked tight over his ears as he blasted music loud enough to make him deaf. His eyes scanned the pages of his book, deciphering the complex kanji as he went from page to page.

His phone buzzed, and he glanced at it. Yamaguchi. He sighed, flipping the phone down. He wasn't in the mood right now.

There was a knock on the door, but Tsukishima didn't hear it. He only noticed when Akiteru opened the door, pushing his way in the room. "Kei!" he called, and the middle blocker groaned and paused his music, pulling his headphones off of his head. "How loud's your music?" Akiteru joked. "I was knocking for, like, five minutes!"

"What do you want?" he said shortly, closing his book.

Akiteru blinked. "Someone's in a bad mood. Nah, I was just wondering when Kaisha's coming by next. I have this old hoodie that's too small for me- you too, for that matter- and I thought she might..."

His brother's voice droned on, but Tsukishima couldn't hear him. There was a light buzz in his ears that came with hearing her name, and there was a pain behind his eyes that wouldn't go away. A migraine? God, she gave him enough headaches as is.

"...Kei? Kei!"

Tsukishima jerked his head up. "What?"

"You zoned out," Akiteru said with a sigh, crossing his arms. "You okay, little bro? You were pretty quiet at dinner. Like, more than usual."

"I'm fine. Trying to read, but I got interrupted."

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry. Just wondering about Kaisha. Is she coming over before the tournament this weekend?"

"We broke up."

 _"What?_ What happened? When? Are-"

Tsukishima looked up at his older brother, channeling as much frustration into his glare as he could. Akiteru backed down, his shoulders slumping. "Sorry. Sorry, Kei, I..." he exhaled slowly. "Wow. Are you okay?"

"Fine," he said shortly. "Just leave me alone."

Akiteru paused, weighing his options, and eventually he gave in. "Do you need anything?" he asked. Tsukishima glared at him. "Fine, fine. Just... let me know if you need something, okay?"

Tsukishima didn't respond. As his older brother left, his phone buzzed. With a groan, he grabbed it, ready to snap at Yamaguchi and get him to call it a night.

His heart jumped in his chest.

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (19:09):_** _This was my fault. I'm sorry it took an argument for me to see that. No excuses. I'm a dumbass._

He had barely wrapped his head around that when another text loaded in.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (19:10):** I'm sorry._

Tsukishima glared at the text for god knows how long, reading the words over and over in his head and trying to run them through his brain. Then, without hesitating, he tossed his phone at the far wall.

Heat was gathering behind his eyes, and Tsukishima pressed a pillow against his face.

 _God, Mikaela Kaisha. Look at what you've done to me._

* * *

When Mikaela checked her phone after the third episode of their show, she nearly dropped it in surprise. "He's seen it," she said, holding the phone out so Kageyama could see the small notification that indicated that the text had been seen.

He shrugged. "At least he didn't block you."

 _There's that, I guess._

Mikaela leaned back into Kageyama's shoulder and tried to forget about him. She'd find out within the coming months that it wasn't that easy.

* * *

 **I'm sorry, please don't hurt me-**

 **Zoreux:** TOO MANY OF THEM GRADUATED IT HURT MY HEART T^T I hope this chapter... didn't hurt too bad? It depends how invested you were in this. I've let myself get way too invested in a relationship that I didn't even think would happen in the first place XD There will be a training camp! Just not with the guys. It'll be the All-Japan Girls one, in two chapters. Thanks so much for your review! :)

 **haikyuurarepairs:** Oh my goodness thank you! T^T I'm so glad you liked it, thank you for bingeing it and enjoying it so much! I'm happy to continue to update until we get completely caught up :) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** I hope this chapter didn't hurt you too bad? I reread the "I-Love-You"s and now that makes this chapter even sadder :( Thank you for your review, I'm glad you enjoyed! :)

 **Frenchie is French:** She's a tad bit annoying but that's just 'cause I wrote her that way, I'm glad it worked ;) I love them too, this chapter really hurt my heart to write but... eh, I've got a plan, and if I have to cry a little bit along the way it's all okay. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **SoccerSarah01:** Oh good! I was worried that Sudou was going to be a bit over the top and I spent forever agonizing about the dialogue to make it a bit more even and toned down and I'm so glad it turned out alright. Hopefully this chapter wasn't too bad? Depends how invested you were in the ship. I'm glad you liked the cute moments but I think you might be deprived of them for the next while... T^T Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Tobi Rose:** Hey, that's super cool! Thanks for the extra input! I'm not a volleyball player, so I've been doing research on drills and such, but it's great to hear it from a player's perspective. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Sadashi:** Yup, definitely felt that XD I'm glad you liked that! I had a bit too much fun writing it. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Averi-nova:** You're a psychic! XD Don't worry, I can't see the second/third years ending anytime soon, and if I have enough material, maybe I'll do university snippets? Still not sure where I want to go from there yet. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Just for the sake of plot and moving this story along, I'm ignoring training camps along the way- just to keep everything moving so that the chapters aren't ridiculously long. No, Mikaela's stuck with her team now, but if the boys went to nationals and she didn't, then for sure she'd tag along to watch their games and support them. No worry about double reviews- you're not pushy at all! I really appreciate it. Thank you for your reviews! :D

 **yangri:** First of all, I'm so sorry for your loss. That can't be easy on you or your family, and I'm glad I could do my part to brighten up your day a bit. Secondly: THIS STORY IS RATED T AND THEREFORE I WILL NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY THAT STATEMENT but I did it that way to put it up to reader interpretation so it's entirely up to you ;) I'm trying to make some unique OCs but it's so harddddddd because there's so many of them and I HATE making too many OCs :( but c'est la vie, I guess I'll have to get used to it. I can't have Mikaela's team remain nameless forever. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Siera-Knightwalker:** I reread the last chapter and I was only just starting to realize how frustrating it is. So close, and they only lost because her leg cramped up? Ouch. I'm trying to work out logistics of her playing in the future and I'm definitely going to sort something out- there's no way she can get this far and not go any further. Please don't apologize for the long review, I love it! I love hearing the thoughts of the readers :) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **luvielle:** I love Akiteru! I've been trying to fit him in to future chapters but it's so _hard_ because there's soooo many characters and I'm trying to get all of their interactions in here... UGH. Thank you kindly for your review, much appreciated! :)

 **Anne Nonimus:** Aw, thank you! I'm so glad you like it! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** You were looking forward... to THIS?! I definitely teared up while writing it and I debated changing it around but the show must go on. Children?! You really want to bring up kids after this chapter?! XD We'll see... don't worry, TsukiMika isn't done yet. ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **jily shiper:** STOPPPPPPP that hurt me :( You're really out here helping me with these chapters then making me second guess what I'm writing... ouch. That's one of my favourite tropes too, so glad I could work that in here. Also, love me some jealous-people-that-realize-they-shouldn't-be-jealous-and-get-over-themselves because YES XD I hope the full version of this chapter was good because I know you only got to read about half of it. Thanks for your review, PM you soon! :D

 **wolfviking:** Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thank you for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** The anime continuing in July hurts but at least it's building up the suspense! I had absolutely no idea whether to make this a TsukishimaXOC fic, and now here we are, back at square one XD I hope the writing was okay in this chapter and that it was a good read even if it was painful. Thank you so much for your review, I love hearing from you! :D

 **Jaymswithfrog:** Aw thank you so much! Oh my goodness you're so sweet T^T I'm so glad you're enjoying, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **S. yons:** Thank you so much! Your kind words are very much appreciated! I agree, Mikaela needs more strong female role models in her life- so enter Tanaka Saeko. Love her to death. I'm glad you've been enjoying this, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Remnae:** Oh goodness thank you so much T^T that worries me so much, Tsukishima is so hard to write and I always rewrite EVERYTHING because I'm afraid he's out of character, so it means so much that you think it's good! I feel so honored that this is the first one you've enjoyed XD Thank you so much! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Yuuki Hitsuguya:** Oh my goodness thank you so much! Thank you for bingeing this and I'm so glad you've enjoyed it! I'm so glad you like it so much, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **sndlr:** Oh nooooo I'm sorry :( I hope you didn't have a sad song playing for this chapter because this one hurt enough without the sad background music T^T Thank you for your reviews, I'm glad you're enjoying this! :)

 **Y'all can't say you didn't see something like coming. They're both stubborn and Mikaela's sort of oblivious. Please trust me going forward- I've put way too much into this now to let it end there. Worry not. Besides, I like to think that if you've made it this far into the story, you're in it for Mikaela and not just the ship. XD**

 **Also on a happier note- over 500 favorites?! I'm going to cry.**

 **Thank you all so much! Stay safe!~**


	55. The Irony

**Thank you to milkywayheartcupcake, Frenchie Is French, haikyuurarepairs, SoccerSarah01, Lazy potato queen, jily shiper, Swaggishima, yangri, ElliElver, Zoreux, luvielle, Averi-nova, Guest, somberset, Guest, Anne Nonimus, TooCliche1414, Sayori1412, Jaymswithfrogs, Siera-Knightwalker, StarlightNALU, channingayle02, cannotthinkofone, RilakkymaXLove, HarukoSazaku, lakeamity, mbates12, Akatsukilover369, BeObscureClearly, xXAnimeElXx, Sonchaeyoung, The Reluctant Heroine, jelsanna, Sal00D18, queenofhyrule, nwyd, oTacogirl, , knnx, HaleyJackson2001, ShadowZorua, Zuhaa, , MoonBeams 17, Misssleepyhead9711, Sandstar16, , Nayayayayaya, YoungTaoist, Ciara8765, Snow2FallxHurricane, naluobsessed, Nabiau, k00k1eL0ver, sashang3690, Katteehee, shy girl 13332, and akaashiiik for your support! :D**

* * *

"You should call Iwaizumi," Kageyama had suggested before he left that night. When she'd asked why, he'd just shrugged. "Trust me."

She did trust him, obviously. But what could Iwaizumi do for her right now?

Mikaela sighed and clicked on his contact, then pressed on the call button. She held the phone up to her ear, promising herself that she'd at least leave a voicemail if he didn't pick up. It was a Wednesday night, after all- he probably had school work or something.

 _"Mikaela? What's up?"_

Just hearing his voice made something relax in her chest. "Iwaizumi!" she said, forcing a weak grin on her face. "How've you been?"

 _"Not too bad. School's a bit hectic, but it always is. Don't worry, I've got time to call."_

"Cool. You sure? I could hang up."

 _"Nah, you never call. I'll put up with you for a night."_

"I don't want to bother you!"

 _"Oikawa calls me every single night. Trust me, you're not even half as bad."_

Mikaela laughed weakly, tucking her knees up to her chest. "It's good to hear your voice," she admitted, trying to blink back the tears that had started to bud in her eyes. "Life's been a bit crazy."

He laughed. _"I bet. The qualifiers are this weekend, right?"_

"Yep. But that's not even the worst bit. Iwaizumi, I..." Mikaela trailed off, pinching her eyes shut. "I've been a mess all year, honestly, but today was the worst. Tsukishima and I just broke up and I-"

 _"Wait, what? Actually?"_

Tears were collecting in her eyelashes, and she sighed. "Yeah."

 _"Do I need to hurt him?"_

"No, no- it was my fault." Mikaela gave him the quick, abbreviated version of the whole argument, making sure to explain that he was totally right and she was at fault. Iwaizumi went quiet on the other end of the line for a while after she was done, so she spoke up again. "Iwaizumi? You there?"

 _"Is that why you're calling me?"_

She paused. "Not really- Tobio, actually, he suggested I call you, and I kind of missed you, so-"

Iwaizumi cut her off with a laugh. _"Your cousin's got some good intuition. Mikaela, you do realize how much you sound like Oikawa, right?"_

"What?"

 _"Oikawa had it pretty bad, especially in his junior years. Almost permanently blew out his knee. I had to keep dragging him away from practice so he wouldn't make anything worse."_ He sighed. _"I was basically that idiot's keeper for a year. So I get where you're coming from- well, Oikawa would get it more than I do. But I understand trying to pull someone away from something that they're unwilling to part with."_

Mikaela stayed silent, absorbing the information. She always knew that Oikawa practiced a lot, but...

 _"You'll take it easy though, right? I don't need to come down there and tear you away?"_

She laughed weakly. "No, I think I've got the message now. I just wish..."

 _"Wish that you had got it before this happened?"_ Iwaizumi finished, and he took her silence as a yes. _"Oikawa never had that moment for him. Even when his knee got bad, he never even considered laying back on practice so it wouldn't happen again. I think towards the end of third year, he started getting it. I'm just glad you know now. Frankly, I should've seen this coming. You're as bad as Kageyama."_

"Then why doesn't he have the same issues?" Mikaela complained with a sigh.

 _"Because you're more social than he is. His friends consist almost entirely of his team, while you've got your team and the guys. At least, that's my guess."_

Mikaela huffed, wiping away the tears from her eyes. "This sucks."

 _"You're absolutely sure I can't smack him around?"_

"No, that's fine," she said with a weak laugh. "I feel bad enough as is."

Iwaizumi was quiet for a minute, then he said, _"you know, Mikaela, no matter how much you beat yourself up, it's never entirely your fault. You know that, right?"_

She could've easily protested otherwise, but instead she just sighed, blinking back more tears. "Thanks, Hajime."

There was a pause. Mikaela laughed when he eventually stammered out, _"you've never called me that."_

"Can I?"

 _"If you want. Whatever."_

"You can call me Kaisha."

 _"Works for me. Good luck tomorrow."_

"Thanks for this. I needed it."

 _"Anytime. You know that, right? Call me anytime. Kaisha."_

She smiled softly. "Thanks again, Hajime."

Mikaela didn't sleep much that night, but at least she felt a little bit better.

* * *

Practice the next morning was rough, for lack of a better word. Mikaela had gotten a grand total of two hours of sleep, her distress from the break up still eating her alive. If Sudou or Kikuchi noticed, they didn't say anything- they probably just assumed she was in a bad mood. She missed half of her serves, nearly missed swinging at a spike, and hit a volleyball so hard that it went flying out of bounds.

It was a good thing she didn't sit beside Tsukishima in class. That would've made things much worse. Yamaguchi said hi and was as friendly as usual, and if he knew they broke up, he didn't say anything. Tsukishima wouldn't even look at her, which made her heart hurt.

The day afterwards was the first day of qualifiers, which went well. It was a relatively easy match up, and they won in straight sets. Everyone knew that the big two teams in the tournament were Niiyama and Karasuno- Mikaela hoped that no other team would get in the way of them making it to the finals. Niiyama was in the other side of the bracket in this tournament, so they wouldn't be facing them until the finals, as long as they made it that far. Shiratorizawa was another strong contender in their side of the bracket, but Mikaela supposed that they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

The second day was when things went sideways.

They were supposed to have their quarterfinals and semifinals in the same day, but at this rate, Mikaela wasn't sure they were going to make it to the semis. They were playing Chikigoaka High School, and although there were no stand out players, they were a solid team.

Still, they should've been kicking their ass. And they weren't.

"Here!" Mikaela called, and the ball came to her side of the court. Her head wasn't clear, and she hit it into the blocker's arms. The ball hit their side of the court, making it a point for Chikigoaka. "My bad," she forced out, biting her lip to hold back a sigh.

"Brush it off," Sudou said, but there was something in her eyes that indicated to Mikaela that she could tell something was up. "Next point."

They dropped the first set, 25 - 22. They were silent as they left the court, and Kikuchi was the one who spoke up when they made it to the sideline. "We just need to clean up the fundamentals," she said firmly, clapping her hands. "We don't need anything flashy. We just need to polish up our basics- receives, spikes, serves. Just keep it simple. This is a good team, but we've beaten better. Right?"

The girls nodded in assent. Mikaela bit her lip, then tapped on Sudou's arm. She turned. "Mikaela. What's up? You have a suggestion?"

"Yeah," Mikaela said, and she forced out one of the hardest sentences she'd ever had to say in her life. "Take me off."

There was a pause. Everyone stared at her.

"Mikaela," Sudou said quietly, breaking the silence, "I know you're not playing your best today, but-"

"I've been dragging the team down," Mikaela said firmly, clenching her hands into fists. "I'm not in the right head space right now, and that's messing up my playing and the whole team's rhythm. I need a minute to clear my head."

Sudou's mouth opened, then closed. "Alright," she said finally, turning back to the team. "Shoko, you'll sub in for Mikaela. I'll change the rotation and submit it to the ref- oh, thanks Kikuchi. Okay." Sudou stuck her hand in the middle, and the team followed suit. "We're a good team," the captain said firmly. "Let's prove it."

They cheered, and Mikaela left the gym just as the whistle blew to start the second set. She could feel the eyes on her, but she was doing her team no good. She needed a break.

She wandered to the water fountain, and after taking generous sips from it, she stuck her head under the jet of water. Mikaela couldn't even feel the coolness from the water as it poured over her hair and soaked into her skull, then dampened her bangs and dripped down into the fountain. She sighed in relief when she started to feel the cold on her head, feeling her brain defog.

"Wait, Kaela?"

Mikaela jerked her head out of the fountain and coughed, her wet bangs slapping her in the face. "Yams- Tadashi? What are you doing here?"

He was standing there, with three water bottles clutched in his arms, and looking more surprised than she'd ever seen him. "Filling water bottles," he said slowly, nodding at the bottle in his arms. "What... What are you doing? Don't you have a game?"

"Yeah," she said, swiping her bangs from her eyes. "Just needed to clear my head. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Yamaguchi insisted, setting some of the water bottles down on the side of the fountain. "We just won our first set. How's yours going?"

"Lost the first. Just started the second."

"You're not playing?"

Mikaela shook her head. "Haven't been playing very well. I took myself off."

Yamaguchi hummed in reply, pressing the button and putting the first water bottle under the water spray. "You don't have to answer," he said carefully, and Mikaela stiffened, "but does this have anything to do with how you and Tsukki aren't talking?" She didn't reply immediately, so he added, "you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want."

"No, I..." she exhaled slowly and he looked up at her. "We fought," she forced out finally. "It made me realize how shitty I've been to everyone in the past few months."

"You haven't been shitty," he protested quietly.

"Not openly," she agreed, lacing her hands behind her back and looking up at the ceiling, trying to blink the tears out of her eyes. "I guess I... I've been too wrapped up in volleyball. I haven't been a good friend lately. I'm sorry."

Yamaguchi was quiet for a moment, then sighed. "It's okay. I get why you've been so busy."

"That doesn't make it okay."

"No," he agreed, capping the first water bottle and opening the second one, "but this is a good step."

Something broke in her chest, and Mikaela sighed. "I just..." she exhaled slowly, opening the third water bottle for him. "I just really wanted to do well. I feel like I have so much to prove, but..." Yamaguchi stayed quiet as she took a moment to collect herself. "It's so ironic," Mikaela said with a weak laugh. "I've been pushing people away so that I could do well in this tournament, and now I'm a mess."

"Hey." Yamaguchi set the second water bottle aside and looked at her, frowning. "It's great that you're trying to take steps," he said carefully, crossing his arms, "but I don't think that's what you need to focus on. These games are what you've trained for. Focus on this game, then the next one, then punch your ticket in for nationals. Then, you can think about your boyfriend."

"Ex," she muttered.

Yamaguchi's eyes widened. "Wait- it wasn't just a fight? You two broke up?" Mikaela nodded, tears sparking her eyes, and the pinch server sighed and pulled her in for a hug. "Oh, Kaisha," he murmured, and Mikaela leaned her head on his shoulder and squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm so sorry."

"I thought he'd told you," Mikaela whispered, trying her best to keep her voice level.

Yamaguchi squeezed her tighter, so Mikaela came to the conclusion on her own: Tsukishima hadn't talked about it. Yamaguchi sighed, then pulled back, leaving his hands on her shoulders. "Kaela, listen up," he said sternly, and Mikaela was surprised at the authority in his tone. "You're going to go back in there, you're going to get subbed on, and then you're going to kick some ass. Because I know you all can get to nationals. And your team can't do it without you."

Mikaela pursed her lips together, trying to force the water in her eyes to dry. "I don't know if I can focus."

"No, listen to me. You're going to focus. You're going to forget about Tsukishima. Right now, it's just you and the court, the net, and the ball." Yamaguchi exhaled, and his iron gaze felt like it was piercing her soul. "You're going to show off what you've worked so hard on," he said fiercely, his grip tightening on her shoulders. "And you're going to kick ass."

"Alright," Mikaela said, unable to help herself from smiling. "Okay."

"Say you're going to kick ass."

"I'm going to kick ass."

"Now say it like you mean it."

She grinned, feeling more like herself than she had in the past few days. "I'm going to kick ass," Mikaela said firmly, clenching her hands into fists.

"There you go." Yamaguchi let go of her shoulders and beamed at her, his freckles stretching across his cheeks. "Now get back to the gym. They can't win without you." He turned back to the water fountain, ready to fill the third bottle.

Mikaela beamed and started walking backwards, her eyes still on Yamaguchi. "Thank you!" she called before she broke into a jog, her eyes trained on the gym door.

Yamaguchi was right.

She'd been working way too hard for this to let it fall out from under her feet now.

 _Let's go kick some ass._

When Mikaela got back to the gym, Karasuno was down 6 - 7. It wasn't much, but Mikaela was ready to go. When she jogged up to the bench, Sudou raised an eyebrow at her from the court, and Mikaela flashed her a thumbs up. She gestured at the box with the substitution numbers, and Sudou nodded. She could come back on. Mikaela fished around for Shoko's number- number ten- and moved to the side of the court. The ref waited for the next point, which Chikigoaka won to put them up by two points, then blew the whistle to let her on.

She tagged off with Shoko, who flashed her a quick smile. Kikuchi offered her a high five, then Sudou followed suit. "You good?" Sudou asked.

"Yeah," Mikaela said honestly, flashing her a smile.

Sudou grinned. "Good, because you're up to serve."

Mikaela took the volleyball and backed up behind the line, waiting for the ref's whistle. When the whistle blew, she tossed the ball up and ran forwards. _That was a good toss,_ she thought to herself as she kicked off, whipping into a vicious left-handed serve.

The jump serve drove across the net like a whistle and landed on the back line. Untouched service ace.

It only went up from there. Mikaela got a serving streak of three more serves in a row, one of which was an ace, the other two being her teammates backing her up with great blocks and clean receives. From there, it felt like she could do nothing wrong. She pulled off ridiculous saves, including one with her foot, and even did an emergency set to their own setter, which confused Chikigoaka so badly that no one jumped to block.

They won the second set, 25 - 23, and then won the third, 25 - 20. It felt like Mikaela had finally found her rhythm. "Great job, team," Kikuchi congratulated brightly when they came off court. "Semis are in half an hour, it looks like we're playing the Shiratorizawa girls."

The team hummed in assent, and Sudou grinned. "Thanks to Mikaela for finally getting her crap together."

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled, rolling her eyes as the team laughed at her. Her heart ached as she thought about Tsukishima again, but she banished the thoughts from her brain. "Sorry, guys."

"Let's keep the good energy going through the semis," Sudou said confidently. "Get some rest for now, ladies."

Mikaela went to check on the boys briefly, and they were already wrapped up. They'd won in the third set after dropping the second one, and they were set to play Aoba Johsai in the next round. Part of Mikaela wanted to watch, because she wanted to see how the team was faring without Oikawa, Iwaizumi, Hanamaki, and Matsukawa, but they had their own match. Besides, she talked to Kageyama briefly and said hi to Hinata before noticing Tsukishima and leaving immediately, trying to swallow the lump in her throat. He clearly didn't want to talk to her.

They played the Shiratorizawa Girls' team in their semi final game. They came out strong, still pumped up from their first win, and they won the first set 25 - 22. Shiratorizawa, however, came back and started to overwhelm them in the second set. Karasuno started floundering, and they lost the second set 21 - 25.

"Third set," Kikuchi announced during their timeout between sets. "Our last one of the day, ladies. Let's make it our best."

"Six sets in one day," one of the girls grumbled. "This is exhausting." Others hummed in agreement.

Mikaela could see the fatigue weighing on them. People weren't jumping as high, and balls that could've been chased down were no longer being given the effort. "Hey," she said firmly, standing up from the bench. "We're going to finish this, and we're going to finish this strong. We've made it too far to turn back now."

Sudou nodded. "This is the year, girls. This will be the first time Karasuno's gone to nationals. But to get there, we have to win this one first. Good?"

Everyone nodded. Mikaela glanced up at the stands and paled- the boys were here already. They must've won in straight sets. Her eyes sought out Tsukishima, but he had his chin tipped down and was staring at his phone. She tore her eyes away, feeling her heart claw its way up into her throat. She accidentally locked eyes with Sudou and turned away, suddenly nervous.

"Let's set up!" their captain called, and their starting line headed to their positions on the court. "Not you, Mikaela," she added, grabbing her arm.

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "You can't seriously be taking me off right now."

"I'm not," she assured her, and Mikaela relaxed. "But I will if your heart isn't in it." Sudou pointed at the court. "These girls deserve nothing less than your one hundred percent. With how much work you've put in- more than everyone else on this team- _you_ deserve to play at one hundred percent. And I won't settle for anything less. I don't know what's going on with you, and I won't pry, but you leave it on the side. When you step on that court, you belong to the Karasuno Girls' volleyball team. Got it?"

Mikaela swallowed. Her captain was more observant than she thought. "Got it," she said firmly. It was like Yamaguchi said: she was going to kick ass. "Let's go kick some ass," she added, grinning.

Sudou smirked, satisfied. "That's the attitude I like to see. Let's go, then."

Mikaela nodded and glanced up at the stands one last time. She made eye contact with Kageyama, and when she glanced to the people next to him, Hinata flashed her a thumbs up. Yamaguchi waved, beaming at her.

And Tsukishima wouldn't even look up from his god damn phone.

She grit her teeth and clenched her fists, turning back around again. This is what she'd worked so hard for; this is what the last six months had gone into. Mikaela marched onto the court, leaving all of her wary thoughts behind her.

She had been upset, she had been frustrated, she had been angry: now, she was just ready to win a game.

"Your serve," Kikuchi said, flashing her a grin. "We won't complain if it's an ace."

Mikaela smirked.

To her absolute delight, it was an ace. It rocketed down the line and although one of the Shiratorizawa girls dove to receive it, the awkward lefty spin sent it flying at the stands. She cheered along with her team, and she vaguely heard Yamaguchi and Hinata from the sideline. She refused to allow herself to look, because she knew as soon as she saw Tsukishima, her heart was going to plummet.

The score kept climbing, and Mikaela played better than she had all day. Now that Shiratorizawa was wary of her spikes, she started switching more to feints, which were working like a charm.

Sudou also had a great game. Sudou, similar to Daichi, worked better with defense than offense- more specifically, she enjoyed blocking. She got several shut downs and even more soft blocks, which kept them in the game. Kikuchi was solid the entire way through; her well placed spikes and ability to rebound easily was driving the blockers insane.

Things started going wrong when Shiratorizawa pulled off three points in a row from miracle saves and ridiculously nice plays. They were down, 21 - 17, and Mikaela was inwardly seething- they were the better team, but now Shiratorizawa had such a big lead? Thankfully, Kikuchi put away their next point, putting them down by three. 21 - 18.

Mikaela was finishing up her last rotation in the front row, accepting the volleyball from the ref so she could go set up to serve when she heard, "the metal-legged bitch is up again."

She spun around, eyes desperately searching out the voice, but the Shiratorizawa girls were all huddled together and whispering. Fury filled her head, and she was about to spit something out when Kikuchi grabbed her shoulder.

"Hey," the vice captain said quietly, and it took all of Mikaela's will power to tear her eyes away from the huddle of girls and set her eyes on Kikuchi. "Set up," she instructed softly. Mikaela grit her teeth and headed to the back of the court.

She needed to calm herself down. At this rate, she'd hit her serve out, and that wasn't what she needed right now.

"Mikaela."

The black-haired girl glanced up, locking eyes with Kikuchi again.

Her vice captain's eyes glittered with a bitter vengeance that Mikaela had never seen before. "It was number three," she said quietly, her lips quirking in a smirk, and Mikaela grinned back. She got the message.

The whistle blew, and Mikaela's jump serve rocketed at number three on the Shiratorizawa team. It rebounded painfully off of her arms and out of bounds- point for Karasuno. Mikaela did it again: a right-handed jump serve that also wasn't received properly. Her team was ecstatic. Two service aces in a row, off of the same person.

Judging by the way number three was glaring at her, she didn't appreciate it. Mikaela grinned at her and she scowled back.

Her third serve, the girl finally managed to receive. Shiratorizawa set up for an attack, but Karasuno's libero received. Mikaela ran forward from the back row and their setter put them ball up for her. Mikaela blasted it through the blockers and landed the ball perfectly on the line for their third point in a row. They were tied up, 21 - 21.

"Let's close up that line shot better next time," number three on Shiratorizawa said firmly, glaring at Mikaela.

Mikaela grinned out of spite. "Or receive it well first?" she suggested, and if looks could kill, number three would've stabbed her to death at least three times. Mikaela lined herself back up and jumped into her next serve, which hit the top of net and tumbled over in a let serve, getting them their fourth point in a row. They were up by one.

Karasuno cheered like banshees, crowding together in a huddle. Sudou clapped her on the shoulder. "Your pettiness is my new favourite thing," she said with a grin, and Mikaela laughed.

"So we should encourage trash talking from the other team?" Kikuchi joked.

She grinned. "Why not?"

Mikaela was on her fifth serve in a row, and she'd never felt so good. She leaped and hit another left-handed serve, aiming at number three again. To her credit, the girl got the ball up to her setter, and their setter tried a quick set down the middle. Sudou read the play and blocked the spike, resulting in a lot of screaming from the Karasuno girls. They were up 23 - 21.

Serve number six swerved out of bounds, and Mikaela sighed to herself, but everyone on her team was looking too fired up to care. Shiratorizawa came at them with a wicked serve that Mikaela managed to get into the air. It was a long, drawn out rally, but Karasuno managed to seal away the point.

One more, and they won. _One more point,_ Mikaela chanted in her head as she watched Sudou serve. _One more point._

Shiratorizawa took the next point, and she bit her lip. If they didn't get this point, they'd run into extra points, and she didn't know how much longer they could keep up their energy. She glanced sideways to the girl on her left, who had her mouth set in a hard line. _Hiba Mozona._ "Hiba," she said softly, and the brunette glanced up at her. "After we receive the serve, switch with me." She had an inkling that their number two was going to go for a block out, and she could react a split second faster than Hiba could. Besides, Hiba was better at taking cross shots than Mikaela was.

Hiba didn't even argue. She just nodded and turned back to the court.

The serve rocketed towards the back right corner, and their libero bumped the ball cleanly. Mikaela darted left, and Hiba moved to the middle of the court. Kikuchi spiked but Shiratorizawa received, sending the ball towards the left side of the court. Mikaela zipped into place for the line shot, determined to pick it up, when she saw the Shiratorizawa player's eyes flash.

 _It's a block out._

With her intuition screaming at her, Mikaela shifted her weight to her left foot, and sure enough, the ball hit the Taki's arms and went flying. Mikaela lunged to the side and dove, leaped into a flying fall and hitting the ball up as high as she could manage.

She could hear "good save!" but the ringing in her ears was too loud. Mikaela scrambled to her feet and ran back to the court. "Hey!" she yelled, using her long run up to her advantage.

Their setter put it up for her, and Mikaela leaped sideways and slammed the ball home. _Shoyo did something like that in their game last year against Wakunan,_ she thought giddily as the whistle blew. The game was over, 25 - 23. They won.

"We're going to finals!" Taki cheered, and they collapsed in a group huddle in the middle, holding each other and yelling loudly enough to make Mikaela deaf. That didn't stop her from smiling widely as she celebrated with her teammates.

She refused to look up at the stands, because she knew as soon as she did, her mood would be ruined.

They shook hands and bowed. Number three on Shiratorizawa actually refused to shake her hand, but Mikaela was fine with that. Their captain kept cool, shaking hands with all of them and nodding, congratulating them on a game well played. Normally, Mikaela would've laughed and taken pride in how number three looked ridiculously moody, but there was some sort of chill down her spine that told her she wouldn't be forgetting the humiliation that easily.

The Karasuno girls packed up their stuff, and Mikaela almost cried happy tears when Yamaguchi was the first to greet them at the door, grabbing her in a fierce hug. "What the _heck,_ Kaisha!" Hinata cheered, jumping onto the both of them in a group hug. "Six serves in a row?! You're a legend!"

Mikaela laughed and hugged both of them back. "Thank you guys! How'd your game go?"

"We won," Kageyama said, shifting over to hug her next. "We're playing Shiratorizawa tomorrow."

She raised her eyebrows. "Ooh, rematch. Almost makes me wish I could watch it."

Hinata started talking about how their match went, diving into some detail about a crazy save he made, and Mikaela only half listened while her eyes scanned the crowd. She couldn't see Tsukishima anywhere. Did he see the end of her match? Was he watching? Did he care? Was he-

There was hand on her arm, and she turned. Yamaguchi. "Hey," he said with a frown, and Mikaela flushed, embarrassed that he had figured out what she was doing.

"Good to go?" Ennoshita called, waving to Sudou. "Everyone accounted for?"

Everyone murmured in assent, glancing between each other to make sure they had everyone. "Wait," Mikaela murmured, opening her bag. "Where's my water bottle?" She hunted through the bag, then groaned. "Must've left it by the bench. I'll be right-"

Mikaela turned to head back to the gym, her eyes still trained on her bag. She walked right into someone, colliding head on.

"Ow!" she said in surprise, her hand flying to her head and her bag falling onto her arm. "Sorry, I didn't-"

"Of _course._ "

Mikaela blinked and glanced up, and nearly groaned when she saw Shiratorizawa's number three. _What are the odds?_ "My bad, wasn't watching where I was going," she said quickly, trying to step around.

It looked like things were going to be fine until Mikaela heard, "metal-legged bitch."

 _I'm not letting this slide a second time._

"Sorry?" she said fiercely, turning to face the other player. They were about the same height, but the girl's piercing glare made her feel a foot shorter. Mikaela refused to feel small, so she drew herself up to her full height and glared at her. "Say that again."

"You heard me," the girl said lowly, her eyes narrowing. She made no move to back away from the conversation.

"Say it again, then," Mikaela growled, her hands clenching into fists at her sides. "Come on."

The girl's lips twisted into a cruel smirk. "I'm not scared of you."

 _You should be._

Well, that was what she wanted to say, but there was a hand on her arm. She turned and saw Kageyama with his hand on her bicep, frowning at her, and she scowled. "Just leave it on the court," Mikaela forced out, still bristling with anger.

"I would," the girl snapped back, and Kageyama's hand tightened on her arm, "but that was my last game. Not like you'd understand how important that was to me- perfect little bitches like you don't know how to work for what you want, only for it to be snatched out from under you by someone who's-"

Mikaela lunged forwards, but now Yamaguchi was on her other side and holding her back. Between he and Kageyama, they managed to stop her from getting within swinging distance, but the Shiratorizawa girl still leaned back in surprise. "Kaisha!" Kageyama warned.

She snarled and shook him off, then tore her arm out of Yamaguchi's grip, glaring down the girl in front of her. "Don't you dare," she snapped furiously, heat pushing behind her eyes, "say that I haven't worked for this!"

 _That's all I did. All I did was work for this, and look at what I lost because of it._

Some of the Shiratorizawa girls were now throwing themselves into the argument, stepping in front of their teammate, and Mikaela was satisfied to see that at least the girl looked a little unnerved. Mikaela didn't care how many of them there were; she was ready to fight each and every single one of them if she had do.

"Kaisha!" Kageyama snapped again, pulling hard on her arm.

She whirled around, her eyes furious. _"What?!"_

To his credit, Kageyama didn't back down at all. He just glared at her. "Not worth it."

Mikaela couldn't take it anymore. She tore herself out of his hold, shouldering past him and through the crowd of people, angry tears pricking her eyes. Someone said her name- someone on her team- but she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge anyone around her. She pushed back everyone and shoved open the doors, marching towards the bus. Without saying a word to Sudou, she threw herself on the vehicle and plopped herself down in the back seat.

She wouldn't let herself cry. Not yet.

* * *

Rumors spread like wildfire among the team, boys and girls alike. Although most people were in the area when it happened, only a few heard all of what went down. It wasn't like Kageyama was a huge talker, and Yamaguchi had refused to talk about it- he'd grabbed her water bottle for her, then sat with her on the ride back and didn't say a word, he really was an angel- so people were grasping at what they could.

Mikaela went home that night and waited until she was in the safety of her room to cry herself dry. She was still restless and exhausted from the lack of sleep, and to her disgruntlement, she only got four hours of sleep before finals.

While they were warming up for their game, stretching in a large circle, one of the girls brought up her spat with Shiratorizawa's number three. Mikaela had instantly darkened, which was enough of a signal to anyone that the topic was closed.

"I would've punched her," Taki said fiercely, and Sudou sighed and reminded her that they were representing Karasuno while they were here.

(As soon as their captain's back was turned, Kikuchi leaned over and started showing her how to properly make a fist.)

It was, in fact, Niiyama in the finals. Kinomi was as confident as always, shaking her hand and making her usual jibes, but Mikaela wasn't having it. There was a weird air of calm around her; she was in a state of deep concentration that was laced with unadulterated fury.

 _We're going to win._

There was no doubt in her mind.

Mikaela was ruthless. She was unstoppable. She nailed every single one of her serves and worked around every single block that was in her face. She didn't target anyone in particular on her serves: she nailed the sidelines and aimed for the gaps between players. She didn't specifically focus on left-handed spikes: she ran through both sides equally. She alternated between feints and spikes evenly, judging the other side of the court with a quick sweep of her eyes.

They took the first set almost easily, 25 - 21. Mikaela received compliments from all of her teammates and shrugged through most of them, heading for her water.

"You okay, Mikaela?" Sudou asked, with several of their teammates humming in agreement.

Mikaela shrugged. "Never been better," she said dryly.

"Don't get me wrong, you're playing great, but..." she trailed off, glancing helplessly at Kikuchi, who just pursed her lips. "We're your team. You know we're here for you, right?"

"Right!" Taki added, pumping her fist. The other girls murmured in assent.

She smirked. "Don't you want to wait until after the game so we don't risk ruining my streak? I'm playing pretty well right now and I wouldn't want another issue like with Chikigoaka from yesterday."

There was a weighted pause where it felt like the team was holding their breath. "No," Sudou said finally, crossing her arms. "If it's detrimental to your mental health, then no. I'd much rather have you play like yesterday when you were smiling, and if it means making you sit out for a set so that you'll be okay, then I'd prefer that. And I'm sure there's no one on this team that would disagree."

Mikaela was touched. Putting a teammate's well being over winning the finals? She didn't know if she'd be able to do the same thing.

 _Ah._ That's probably one of the factors of why she and Tsukishima broke up. That's one of the things he'd alluded to.

A lump rose in Mikaela's throat, and as she was about to say something, the whistle blew. "Wait until we win this set," she said eventually, rising from the bench. "This is a five set game, so- let's do this in two more?"

They didn't have time to protest. Everyone ran back on to the court, getting set up for the second set. Mikaela glanced sideways at Hiba, who had her eyes focused on the opposition.

 _Focus._

Once again, Mikaela radiated a silent fury that shone through in her playing. She wasn't doing anything flashy like yesterday: no crazy saves, no wicked service aces. She blended in with the rest of the team, not darting forwards as a decoy or getting to spike more than any other player.

They took the second set too, 25 - 23. The Niiyama girls were starting to fold- Mikaela guessed that they weren't used to losing. "I've got to say, Mikaela," Kinomi said as both teams headed off the court, "I don't think I've ever seen you more quiet. What, cat got your tongue?"

Mikaela clenched her teeth, holding back her retort. "Drop it, Kinomi," she said angrily.

"Hey, watch the tone," the blonde girl teased. "You're antagonizing next year's ace."

She was about to snap back something about how she needed to shut her big mouth when someone put a hand on her shoulder. Kikuchi. Mikaela loved her vice captain- she was always there right when Mikaela thought she was going to lose her cool. That, and she loved to be involved in a bit of drama. "So are you, in that case," she said with a laugh. "This year's, actually."

Mikaela grinned. She'd always assumed she was the ace this year (there was really no one else that stood out as much as she did), but hearing one of her captains say it really hit it home. "Big deal," Kinomi scoffed.

"Hey, watch the tone," Kikuchi mocked, grinning wildly, and Mikaela's respect for her vice captain sky-rocketed. "You're antagonizing next year's captain."

Both Mikaela and Kinomi turned to Kikuchi with dropped jaws. "Actually?" Mikaela forced out, the idea tumbling through her head. Captain? Her? But she was too temperamental, too problematic, too uncaring of others, too-

"What, did Sudou not tell you?" she asked, and Mikaela shook her head. "Darn. I guess I ruined the surprise. Come on, let's go rest up. One more set to go." Kikuchi winked at a shell-shocked Kinomi, then steered Mikaela around and practically dragged her to the bench.

Her feet were still trying to catch up with her brain. "Kikuchi-senpai?" Mikaela said with a smirk, thinking of how speechless Kinomi had been. "You're amazing."

Kikuchi grinned in response, then turned to Sudou. "Hey! Rinko-chan! Sorry, accidentally spoiled the surprise to protect our junior's reputation in front of her rival."

Sudou sighed, and when a few other girls started asking what she meant, the captain gestured at Mikaela and said, "meet your captain for next year."

The team started adding their congratulations. "Oh my god!" Taki squealed, throwing her arms around Mikaela's shoulders. "New captain!"

"Not yet," Sudou reminded her, and the girls laughed.

"Wait, are you sure?" Mikaela asked, unwilling to let herself get her hopes up just yet. "I mean, I'm definitely a problem child. I pick fights with people. Hell, Sudou-senpai, I almost fought you during the try outs."

Some of the girls burst into giggles, clearly remembering the fight that they'd gotten into at the start of the term. Sudou sighed, rolling her eyes. "Yes, I remember. Mikaela, you're passionate, and I don't think there's anyone here that can argue you're not the most dedicated and hard-working player on the team. Sure, you've got a temper, but I have faith that with this leadership position, you'll be able to reign it in when you need to."

"That, and we're appointing Hiba-chan your vice captain," Kikuchi threw in, and all attention turned to Hiba.

"Wait- me?" she whisper-shouted, her jaw dropping. Her face split into a grin as the girls around her started congratulating her. Mikaela grinned- Hiba was the perfect choice. A quiet and calming presence on the court, always kept her cool. Loud when she had to be and could control the team easily; vice captain suited her perfectly.

"Well, that's not how I expected that to go down," Sudou said, and everyone laughed. The whistle blew, and Sudou threw her hand into the middle. "We're winning this is straight sets!" she announced.

"Hell yeah," Mikaela added, thrusting her hand into the middle.

Everyone piled on, and with a hearty cheer, they went back onto the court. The Niiyama girls seemed more pent up than before, and they looked like they'd gotten over the shock of losing two sets in a row. After an exhaustively long third set, Niiyama managed to pull away the win with 28 - 26. When they came off the court, Mikaela was pleased to see that no one looked particularly disheartened: if anything, people looked like they were ready to bring on the fourth set and put it away there.

"Good to see you're in a good mood again," Sudou said when they were at the side, clapping her on the shoulder.

Mikaela shrugged. "I was fine before."

"Yes, but it was..." she paused. "If I'm being honest, you were pretty terrifying."

"Yeah!" Taki added, popping into the conversation. "When you got that block point, you looked like you could've ripped the head off the Niiyama girl with your bare hands!"

She laughed. "Thanks, Taki." A memory popped into her head. "Hey, did you know I used to have a nickname in Junior High? I was the court's Demon."

"Demon," Sudou echoed, mulling it over.

"Very fitting!" Kikuchi said brightly, flashing her two thumbs up.

"I agree," the captain added, and the whistle blew. "Let's see if we can blow that name back up, hm?" With a grin, Mikaela followed her captain onto the court, ready for the fourth set.

 _I'll earn that nickname._

Mikaela started going for flashy. Before, she had been a storm hiding with her teammates, and now, she was striking like lightning. She couldn't remember the last time she'd hit so hard, and she actually yelled out in excitement when one of her spikes flew off of the receiver's arm and up into the stands. The crowd was wild, and she was feeding off of their energy. The harder she hit, the more power she used, the louder it felt.

When she dove into a front slide and managed to save a ball with her foot, the crowd seemed to go ballistic. Mikaela was grinning wildly; _this_ was why she played volleyball. The energy. The pure feeling of power.

When she scored the winning point off of a powerful left-handed spike, putting the score at 26 - 24 for Karasuno, it felt like the noise drowned out. Her team piled on top of her, yelling and screaming, and Mikaela couldn't understand what anyone was saying through the happy tears and excited yells and screams of "we won!" but it didn't matter. They won.

They were going to nationals.

"Awards ceremony in ten minutes!" Sudou announced proudly after everyone had calmed down and shaken hands. "The boys are still playing, so they're doing ours first, and then we'll go support their game."

And just like that, Mikaela's good mood faltered. Tsukishima.

They got their medals. The coldness of the metal seemed to sink right through Mikaela's dark jersey and into her heart. She tried her best to smile- she should be thrilled, they were going to nationals. This was a huge moment for them.

When they got to the guys' gym, they were at the tail end of the fifth set. Karasuno was up 13 - 12, and Mikaela watched with pride in her heart as Hinata blasted his spike over the heads of the blockers, putting them at match point. "They're about to win!" Taki chirped excitedly. Mikaela wanted to tell her not to jinx it but her eyes were already searching out Tsukishima, who was temporarily resting on the bench. Looked like he was waiting until Nishinoya came off to go back in again.

The Karasuno girls piled into the bleachers, finding an empty row high up in the audience. Shiratorizawa took the next two points to tie it up at 14 - 14, and Mikaela was surprised to see how well they were doing despite the absence of Ushijima.

"Yes!" Kikuchi and Taki cheered in unison as Kageyama nailed a setter dump to put them within match point again.

"That dude's crazy," one of the girls said with a shake of her head. "A setter dump, now?"

"That's Tobio for you," Mikaela said with a grin, shrugging. Her eyes trailed down to the front railing, where Saeko, Akiteru, Shimada, and Takinoue were crowded next to the railing, cheering their hearts out. Saeko had brought along her taiko drum group, which did great in filling the atmosphere with positive energy.

She made eye contact with Akiteru and she forced herself to wave. He made a half-hearted wave back, his lips turned in a sad smile. _He knows, then._ Mikaela looked away before she could read anything else from his expression.

Hinata was up to serve, and Tsukishima had rolled back onto the court. She watched proudly as Hinata pulled off a jump serve- he'd been working on that all year. Shiratorizawa received and set, but Tsukishima read the play and jumped to block. Mikaela bit her lip to keep herself from yelling out as he got the block, putting the score at 16 - 14 for Karasuno and winning the set.

"They won!" Kikuchi cheered, grabbing Sudou in a hug. "We're all going to nationals!"

"That's your boyfriend who got the block, right Mikaela-senpai?" Taki said, pointing at Tsukishima. The blond had a smug smirk on his face and was getting congratulated by his teammates. "He's so good!"

Mikaela coughed, something swelling in her throat. "Was."

"He _was_ good?" she asked, cocking her head in confusion. "What does that mean?"

Sudou, however, clued in right away. "You two broke up?" she said quietly, and it felt like the entire Karasuno team hushed in waiting. Mikaela nodded slowly. "Is this why you've been off all weekend?"

She nodded again. "It just happened a few days ago."

"Oh my god!" Taki lunged at her in a hug, and Mikaela blinked rapidly to stop tears from forming in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea." Before Mikaela could reply, the rest of the Karasuno team had piled on and trapped her in the middle of an awkward group hug. She didn't know what to do other than sit there and try her best to stop crying.

"It's fine," Mikaela defended weakly as the team started piling off of her. "I don't... I don't really want to talk about it."

"Are you crying?" Kikuchi asked softly.

She rubbed at her eyes. "No- No."

"Aw, you've got emotions other than anger after all," the vice captain said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "See, Rinko-chan, I told you she'd be fine."

Mikaela forced out a weak laugh. "I've been a mess all weekend, I'm surprised I didn't cry in front of you guys until now."

"Come on," Sudou said, squeezing her hand briefly. "Let's go congratulate the boys. You don't have to talk to him if you don't want to, but I think you should see Kageyama-kun."

"Of course," she agreed.

The Karasuno girls made their way down the bleachers and down the stairs to the gym, pushing through the doors and heading straight for the guys' team. Mikaela told herself that she'd stay within the group of girls, but as soon as she saw the look of pride on Kageyama's face she couldn't help it. She broke out of the group and ran towards him, jumping on him. Her arms were over his shoulders and her legs were wrapped around his waist, and she was clinging on like a koala. "Congrats!" she squeaked out into his ear.

He laughed, and the sound made Mikaela smile. "You won?" he asked, his arms wrapping around her waist and squeezing.

She grinned, jumping down to the ground. She held out her medal. "Yep! Cleaned up in four sets!"

"We're going to nationals," Kageyama said, his face wide with a grin. "Both of us."

"For real this time," she said with a grin.

"Kaisha! You won?" Hinata cried out, launching himself at her. Now, the roles were reversed: Hinata was holding onto her like a koala, and she was half afraid that she'd drop him.

Mikaela squeezed him tight and laughed. "Yeah, we did!"

"We're all going to nationals!" Nishinoya cheered, and she hadn't even put Hinata now for a second when the libero had jumped on her back, nearly knocking her to the ground. "Mikaela! We're all going to nationals!"

"We are!" she agreed, laughing. His enthusiasm was contagious and she couldn't help but grin. Nishinoya leaped off of her back and launched himself at one of the first years, taking the poor kid to the ground.

She heard Ennoshita call out, "awards ceremony in five minutes!" and from the look on his face, he still couldn't believe that they'd won.

Mikaela sighed happily to herself. It was moments like this that she loved: everyone was happy, and the area was filled with pure elation. Tanaka had his arm around Ennoshita, with Kinoshita and Narita on the other side of them. The third years were getting another shot at nationals, and from the excitement on their faces, they were looking forward to it. Mikaela smiled. This. This moment was what she wanted to hold onto.

She turned, heading towards Sudou, and bumped shoulders with someone. "Sorry..." Mikaela trailed off.

Tsukishima.

"You won," he said plainly, noting the medal hanging around her chest.

Mikaela swallowed, butterflies erupting in her stomach. She couldn't read any emotion from his face: was he mad? Happy to talk to her? Still pissed off? If he was, then he was very rightfully angry with her, but why couldn't he just _say something-_

"Yeah," she said, her voice barely over a whisper. She laced her fingers behind her back so she'd stop fidgeting.

His expression didn't change. If anything, he looked angrier as he said coldly, "I hope it was worth it."

Mikaela blinked, stepping back like she'd been slapped.

He turned and walked away, sliding around Hinata and Tanaka and vanishing behind the Karasuno first years. Mikaela was at a loss, her eyes trailing after his back, watching the number on his jersey until he was out of sight. Even after he was gone, she stood there dumbly, staring into nothing.

"Mikaela?"

She jerked in surprise. Sudou frowned. "You okay?"

 _I have no idea._

"Yeah," she said shakily, and was surprised to feel tears burning behind her eyes. "Bathroom." Without looking for a response, Mikaela turned around and dodged around Yamaguchi, who called out to her. She pretended not to hear him as she left the gym, throwing open the doors and darting down one of the hallways, weaving between people. Too many people were staring at her, too many people saying "hey, it's the girl with the metal leg!" and too little oxygen in the air. Mikaela grabbed the handle to the bathroom door and yanked it open, throwing herself inside and locking herself immediately in one of the stalls.

As soon as she was in the privacy of the stall and she had stopped moving, Mikaela paused. What had he said to her? _I hope it was worth it._

She thought about how she shut out Tsukishima, avoided Kageyama, ditched Yachi and Yamaguchi and Hinata, and ultimately isolated herself from all of her friends, all for this moment.

 _It wasn't worth it._

And then, Mikaela finally allowed herself to cry.

* * *

 **These chapters just keep getting longer and longer oops**

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** I think you basically summed up my reaction when I reread the chapter and was like "wait what the heck did I just write" so kudos to you XD Thank you for your review! :)

 **Frenchie Is French:** She's a bit dumb sometimes T^T Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **haikyuurarepairs:** Oh my goodness you're way too kind T^T I totally agree, out of all the characters I've written, Tsukishima and Kageyama are the hardest- especially since they're so deeply intertwined with the main character and I have to show a side of them that I know nothing about. Don't apologize, I love long reviews! They make my heart happy XD Thank you so much for all your kind words and your review! :)

 **Lazy potato queen:** Yeah, no relationship is perfect, right? Sorry if the break up was a bit sudden- I tried to show a bit of tension in the last chapter but from rereading I just realized it was more cutesy than anything XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **SoccerSarah01:** Your review reminds me of the "thanks, I hate it" memes (if that makes sense) XD I'm glad you still liked the chapter regardless! Thank you so much for your kind review! :)

 **jily shiper:** Oh good, I was worried about the rest of the chapter XD Thank you for the suggestions, they hurt me. Bruh trust me I ain't about to drag Tsukishima through the mud like that, he's a tough cookie. Thank you so much, I'm PM you soon ;)

 **Swaggishima:** You'll have to wait and see! Don't worry, I've got a plan ;) Sorry this chapter wasn't exactly happy either... and the next one won't be... you may have to wait a bit... XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **yangri:** I'M SORRY?! I hope you've sorted through your feelings because I want to know what you thought (I find myself living for your opinion lmao) so I hope your jumbled review is a good thing? Maybe? Thanks for your review XD

 **ElliElver:** Yup, my bad. Your review made me laugh, so thank you for that XD I love the mild aggression! Thank you so much for your review :)

 **luvielle:** I'm glad you liked it! (At least, I think you did XD ) I hope you're staying safe too and that you liked this update! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Zoreux:** I know, right? I can't believe I really just took my OC and dragged her through the mud. Acknowledging flaws in a cutesy way is one thing but this? This was some serious consequences and I still don't know how I did it. It hurt my soul. Thank you so much for your review! It'll get better, I promise ;)

 **Averi-nova:** I'm so sorry XD I know this chapter isn't much better but... it'll get better? Eventually? Thank you so much for your review :)

 **somberset:** Oh my goodness you're so sweet T^T Yeah, the break up shouldn't have been... unforeseeable? I guess? But it still makes me sad when I reread it. Thank you so much! I'm proud of not just Mikaela's development but how I handled Tsukishima too, so I'm glad other readers feel the same. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Guest ("Wow you just..."):**...I'm sorry? XD You're more than welcome to be addicted to this story, I welcome the support (and there's much worse things you could be addicted to). Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Guest ("Ok so I love..."):** I can't tell if you meant that the chapter was shit or you feel like shit, or maybe both XD Well, if I'm evoking such strong emotions from you, I think I must've done my job well. Maybe a bit too well. Don't worry, it'll get better- just give it some time. Thank you for your review! :D

 **Anne Nonimus:** I have a friend like that, and I can't take her to movies because she laughs when the important characters die XD Thank you so much! I totally agree with your analysis of relationships and I can't even begin to describe how much I appreciate that you think I nailed it. It was tough to write and tougher to reread, so I'm so glad that you think I nailed both the break up and Tsukishima's character. Thank you so so much for your review! :)

 **TooCliche1414:** I'M SO SORRY I TEARED UP WHILE WRITING IT IF THAT MAKES YOU FEEL ANY BETTER! Emotions tend to be high at four in the morning so I hope you're okay XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** That has yet to be seen!... Of course I love your reviews! And definitely consider reading the manga if you're looking for something to keep you busy. It's so so good. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Jaymswithfrogs:** All in due time ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Siera-Knightwalker:** Hmmmmm UGH I've been dragging myself through the mud trying to decide how canon I need to be. I think I'm going to make a tiny alteration but it's still in the works, we'll have to see. Any suggestions you have, I'd love to hear. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **StarlightNALU:** I'm sorry! I understand your pain, I promise XD Thank you so much for the compliments! (Although mildly backhanded but I can totally understand, I hate myself for it too) Oh my goodness, I could print your reviews out and put it on my wall. It's so sweet. Thank you so so much. :)

 **channingayle02:** OUCH why you gotta hit me like that... all jokes, I wheezed when I read your review XD Not too soon, worry not. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **cannotthinkofone:** Aw thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed this T^T Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **So I reread this story from the beginning and was giving myself a nice pat on the back until I read the break up chapter and cried. I was like "that was awful, I spent 53 chapters building them up just to do this?!" and I was so mad at myself. No going back now, oops.**

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 **Hang in there guys. I love you all.**


	56. The Reunions

**Thank you so much to somberset, hatakehoe, yangri, SoccerSarah01, haikyuurarepairs, milkywayheartcupcake, Averi-nova, Zoreux, Sayori1412, bbymojo, luvielle, Ilas, Dawning Wolf, ElliElver, Siera-Knightwalker, StarlightNALU, Swaggishima, Inola, jily shiper, Anne Nonimus, Hunk-is-my-baby, secretlifeofsam, ice devil cat demon, cryinginmyroom, Guest, marsof2005, cannotthinkofone, Saki, PurpleCuddleBug, LunarsSide, kyokosa2gawa015, DarkNightAngel2013, Doubleblade2127, Vladvanmoria, TheHeckie09, animebouch001, chocomell0, tr-x-a, yeeeeet14, Alex-chan2244, AragakiYuki, Cherryblossom305, EdenMae, TheMysteries, Nabiau, SilentMuse17, Angellwriter, IIfferson, alzandra, hakurain, RebelTreecko, bearsandbeers, blindandbeautiful, Devilious, TsubasaAK, anthill645, BTSjungkookfan, Tigereye1314, Sall342, LolitaTsundere21, Mirrorsdeath17, angeerica, kellos, Book. Rose. Angel, animewolf23, and wakadanna22 for your support!**

 **I'm gonna cry. I legitimately have the best supporters on this website. Thank you all so much.**

* * *

Class was awful.

No sugarcoating, no bullshit. It _sucked._

Mikaela never realized how much she relied on Tsukishima and Yamaguchi to get through the day until Tsukishima had started ignoring her. Yamaguchi did his best to talk to her, but it was so unbelievably awkward, watching him switch between the two of them since Tsukishima was unwilling to turn around and look at her. She started waving Yamaguchi off- it wasn't fair of him to stretch himself thin between the two of them. He'd known Mikaela for almost two years, but he'd known Tsukishima for almost his whole life.

She started eating lunch in the classroom. Yamaguchi always hesitated, asking if he should stay, but she shook her head every single time. "It's fine," Mikaela said repeatedly. "Kageyama's coming, I'll eat with him."

"If you're sure," Yamaguchi said uncertainly.

"I am," she replied firmly. She glanced sideways; Tsukishima was already gone. "Go catch up to him."

"Text me," the pinch server insisted before he left. Mikaela sighed to herself and pulled out her lunch box, glaring angrily at her backpack. This really did suck. She deserved it.

"Mikaela-chan?"

She looked up and bit her lip to hide her grimace. "Kahano," she said shortly.

The poor girl fidgeted nervously in her spot, her eyes flying everywhere except Mikaela. "Did, uh..." Kahano trailed off, rubbing the back of her head with her free hand. "Did you and Tsukishima-kun break up?"

"Yes."

She waited for the excitement, the shine in her eyes. The obvious 'now-he's-on-the-market' look. To her surprise, it never came. Kahano bit her lip. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said quietly, and Mikaela was surprised to hear how genuine she sounded. "You two were good together."

Hearing that come from _Kahano,_ of all people, hurt. Mikaela's shoulders slumped and she laughed weakly. The irony in that. This girl used to pine over Tsukishima like he was a celebrity, and now here she was, saying that she was sorry they broke up and they'd been a good couple. She sounded genuine, but it was too weird of a reaction and Mikaela didn't know if she believed her. "Thanks," she said quietly, eyes dropping down to her lunch.

Kahano looked like she was about to say something else when Yuka sidled up next to her. "He probably just finally saw her for the bitch she is," Yuka said fiercely.

Mikaela was almost relieved for the abrupt switch back to exactly what she had expected. "Thanks, Yuka," she said tiredly.

The black-haired girl paused. "What, no anger?" she teased, wrapping an arm around Kahano. "Not going to make fun of us, like you always do? Have you finally realized what a crappy person you are?"

"You act like I give two shits about you," Mikaela said dully.

Yuka stiffened. "You-"

"You're not worth the effort," she continued, cutting her off. "And as satisfying as it would be to punch you in the face and knock out a couple of your teeth, it's not worth the bitching I'll get from you afterwards. You're annoying when you cry." Mikaela looked up and locked eyes with Yuka, glaring at her. "Get out of here before you tempt me."

"You're such a bitch," she snapped.

Mikaela raised her eyebrows at her. "And?"

Yuka's mouth opened, then closed. Kahano seized her wrist and tugged her away, but not before shooting Mikaela an apologetic look. She waited until they left before she slumped down against the desk, burying her forehead into her arms so that no one would see the tears pricking her eyes.

Well, Yuka was right about one thing. She certainly was a bitch.

* * *

"I have great news!" Kikuchi announced brightly as the team gathered into a circle at the start of practice. "We received an email from Hujita Yahanaba, the coach of Japan's female under-nineteen team and one of the coaches of the Olympic team!"

It had been almost a month since the tournament and their win. Nationals still wasn't for over a month, but Sudou had upped their practices to every morning of the week and four afternoons. They alternated between certain drills and conditioning, so it wasn't like anyone was overexerted at all. Normally, Mikaela would've worked tirelessly on the weekends and after practice was over, but lately she hadn't been. Her motivation had basically dissipated; she had trouble getting herself up for jogging with Kageyama in the morning.

She still hadn't talked to Tsukishima. She made an effort to ask him something in class once, and his clipped answer had almost been enough to reduce her to tears. Mikaela gave up trying; it was clear he didn't want anything to do with her or hear any of her apologies and excuses. She'd still jump into the guys' practice occasionally, but worked with Kageyama more often than anyone else.

If Kageyama had noticed her starting to slack off in terms of practice time, he didn't say anything. Mikaela noticed that he was training more than ever; she wasn't sure if she should drag him away from practice every once in a while.

Sudou grinned, and her eyes fell on Mikaela. "Mikaela, you've been invited to the All-Japan Youth Training Camp!"

The team instantly burst into chatter, congratulating her and talking among themselves. Mikaela smirked slightly- she wasn't surprised. They'd won their qualifier tournament, after all, dethroning Niiyama for the first time in _years;_ their team was already sure to be a big deal. And she'd been playing pretty well, so she guessed that Hujita was satisfied with her skill set.

Kikuchi seemed to notice that she wasn't reacting as intensely as they'd expected. "Mikaela!" she squeaked out, grabbing her hands. "This is _huge!"_

"I know," she agreed. "I knew I was going to go."

"I knew you were cocky," Sudou snorted, "but-"

"No! I mean I've been emailing the coach back and forth all year," Mikaela defended, and the team fell nearly silent. "I went to the training camp last year as a manager and spoke with her then, because obviously, this _thing-"_ she gestured to her fake leg- "is a bit of an issue."

Sudou broke the silence. "You've been talking to the Olympic coach _all year?"_

She nodded. "Yeah. We were trying to work out logistics to see if I could play for the Olympics or something, but I can't. But she's trying to work out if I can play on Team Japan, but it's going to depend a lot on the other countries." When she realized everyone was staring at her, Mikaela realized she was rambling. "Sorry, didn't mean to ramble."

"You went to the camp last year?" Hiba asked her.

Mikaela nodded. "That's where that dumb video came from."

"So let me get this straight," Sudou finally said, clapping her hands together and pointing them at Mikaela. "You've been scouted by the Olympic team coach." She nodded. "And you've been talking to her for about a year." Another nod. "And you... And you never thought to tell us?"

"It doesn't really come up in casual conversation," she protested.

Everyone started talking at once, and Mikaela sighed to herself as she tried to listen to everyone and answer everyone's questions. "So should I say that yes, you're going?" Kikuchi asked as soon as Mikaela had removed herself from the mob of questions.

"Yeah," Mikaela said with a sigh. "Sounds good."

* * *

Training camp was significantly less eventful than last year- which was completely fine with her.

Hujita showed her no favoritism: she was filed along with the rest of the girls, not pulled aside or called out at all. To her chagrin, there were two girls from Niiyama there, but neither one of them was Kinomi. Sure, the Niiyama girls were good, but they hadn't even won this year.

To Mikaela's surprise, she was popular. She got several people asking to partner up with her during drills or sit with her at meal times. Mikaela tried to be nice; she sat at the crowded tables and answered questions as best she could. It was kind of fun, if she was honest. The boys were significantly rowdier, but she had been kept out of socialization for the most part. Here, she felt like she was in the middle of everything they did.

"So, did you really manage the boys' camp last year?" one girl asked, propping her elbows up on the table. Mikaela tried her best to recall her name, but nothing came up.

"Uh, yeah," she said, picking up a rice ball with her chopsticks. "Trust me, it wasn't all that great."

"Wasn't all that great?" one of the other girls snorted. Mikaela remembered her name- Rikora. Rikora Kazimo from some school up north. She was a brilliant setter- nothing on Kageyama, but still good. "You were surrounded by gorgeous guys all week! How was that not great?"

The girls hummed in assent, and Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I only ever spent time with them at meals. Besides, some of them were pretty annoying."

"Like the one you threw your leg at?" a girl with short blonde hair said with a laugh.

"Miya Atsumu," the first girl said with a happy sigh. "What I wouldn't give to have some attention from him."

She snorted. "I'd rather have my other leg chopped off."

The girls at the table laughed, but it was clear that some of them had varying opinions. "Really, Mikaela?" Rikora said with a soft smirk. "You can't tell me that Miya Atsumu isn't good looking. And his brother too, for that matter?"

"Yeah, they're good looking," Mikaela admitted, because it was much easier than trying to fight them on it (and it wasn't like they were bad looking, not by a long shot). "But Atsumu's much too annoying. He literally thrives off making fun of people."

"You call him Atsumu?" the blonde girl asked.

Mikaela paused. "Yeah. He said I could."

"Could you introduce me?" the first girl said excitedly, her short black hair swinging over her shoulder.

She sighed, ready to protest that she didn't really know him well enough, nor did she have his number, but a fourth girl piped up. "Personally, Sakusa's more my type," she said, pulling up a picture on her phone of him from Volleyball Monthly. "Strong and silent."

The girls murmured in agreement, but Mikaela scoffed. "Strong and silent? More like wimpy." She paused. "Don't tell him I said that."

"You know him too?" Rikora asked.

"Yeah. He's a huge germaphobe. If you want someone friendlier, I could introduce you to Motoya," she suggested, thinking of the friendly libero that she'd become friends with. "He's Itachiyama's libero. He-"

"You know him?" the first girl said, her jaw slipping open. "Mikaela, who don't you know?"

She shrugged, feeling herself flush. "I just met a few people last year. That's all."

Mikaela wished it could've been left at that, but people seemed to think that Mikaela was at celebrity status among the volleyball world. She had several girls ask if she had Miya Atsumu's number (she didn't bring up that he'd asked her out- god, that would cause chaos) and others ask if she knew this person or that person and who she'd met.

One of the drills they did that week was forcing everyone to switch positions. Mikaela would've loved to be any position- she was already a wing spiker, middle blocker wasn't much different, and she'd love libero, but of course Hujita put her in her worst element: setting. She was reasonable, but never good enough. It was a hard drill, but nothing she couldn't handle. When she glanced at Hujita, she could see that the coach was watching her with a smirk on her face.

By the time the week was over, Mikaela was absolutely exhausted. She slept on Kageyama's shoulder the entire way home.

Between drills, interrogations disguised as polite conversations, and constant "hey, do you know so and so? What's he like? Could you introduce me?" she was both physically and mentally drained. She wanted nothing more than cuddle up with Tsukishima on a couch and fall asleep with some dumb movie playing in the background, and the fact that she couldn't made her eyes well up.

A month and a half later, and she still couldn't get over it.

* * *

After much internal deliberation and discussion with Yamaguchi, Mikaela sucked up enough courage to try and make a truce with Tsukishima.

She'd barely talked to him since they broke up, with the only snippets being cold and hurtful things that drained any inch of hope Mikaela had amassed for even salvaging a friendship between them. She originally wasn't even going to try to build up anything again, as much as she wanted to, but Yamaguchi convinced her to go for it. He wouldn't tell her anything from what he talked about with Tsukishima- which was understandable, it was their private business- but he told her that trying to call for a truce would be a good step.

She waited until Ukai called off practice for the night. The girls' team didn't practice on Fridays after school, so Mikaela always jumped into the boys' practice. Everyone started packing up to head out. She locked eyes with Yamaguchi and he nodded, giving her a thumbs up.

The pinch server jogged over to his best friend and slowed him down, talking to him about something Mikaela couldn't hear through the ringing in her ears. Swallowing nervously, Mikaela walked towards them, trying to ignore how badly her legs were shaking. "Tsukishima?" she tried, her voice lower than she would've liked.

He turned, and his eyebrows raised when he noticed it was her. Thankfully, he didn't seem as cold as he was a month ago. "Yeah?"

Her eyes flitted to Yamaguchi, and he nodded encouragingly. She looked back at Tsukishima. "I know I..." she trailed off, trying to remember what she'd practiced with Yamaguchi. "Look, I know we-"

"If this is an apology-" Tsukishima started, his eyes narrowing.

"It's not," Mikaela interrupted. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. I know I don't deserve it and that you're not going to give it out. But I wanted to know if we could get a truce." Yamaguchi rolled his finger in a circle from behind Tsukishima's back, and she continued on, refusing to make eye contact with her ex-boyfriend. "I just... I really hate how awkward everything is. I know asking to be friends might be too much but it's not fair to our other friends as it is right now."

Tsukishima glanced at Yamaguchi, who shrugged sheepishly. "Did Yamaguchi put you up to this?" he asked skeptically.

Yamaguchi was about to protest but Mikaela cut him off. "No, this is all me," she said firmly, finally locking eyes with him. "It's not fair to Yamaguchi because he has to keep dancing around us. Same with the others. Could we at least... at least be civil, I guess?"

"A truce," he repeated, and Mikaela caught a flicker of emotion in his eyes. Her heart ached. "Whatever. Sure."

She released a breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Great. Thanks, Tsukishima."

He didn't reply. Instead, he turned and walked away, hiking his backpack up over his shoulder and leaving the gym. Yamaguchi gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. "That was great, Kaisha," he said encouragingly. "That's a good step." When she didn't reply, he sighed. "He's hurting too, you know," Yamaguchi added quietly.

"Doesn't act like it," Mikaela said with an edge to her tone.

 _I'm not even sure he cares at all anymore._

* * *

Nationals came around before she knew what was happening.

Since the Karasuno girls didn't have a coach, Ukai and Takeda helped the girls out and picked a motel for all the Karasuno volleyball players. It meant staying within close proximity of Tsukishima for a long period of time, which she was starting to get more comfortable with. They still didn't talk, but they could stay in the same room without the tension making Mikaela want to leave and hide in her room. It was something, at least.

When day one rolled around, Mikaela wasn't expecting as many happy reunions as there were.

They were in the main stadium foyer, and it was just as crowded as Mikaela remembered it being last year. Sudou was working with Ennoshita to try and keep all the Karasuno people together, but Mikaela saw Tanaka chatting with Yamamoto of Nekoma out of the corner of her eye. She thought about going over to say hi when someone called her name. "Mikaela-chan," someone said quietly, and Mikaela found herself face to face with Akaashi. "How've you been? It's been a while."

"Great!" she replied, grinning. "It's been forever, wow."

"Congrats on making it to nationals."

"You too! How's Bokuto? Are you still in touch?"

A small smile graced Akaashi's lips and he nodded, putting his hands behind his back. "He's doing well," he said, and Mikaela could see the happiness that Bokuto still brought him. "We're in frequent contact. I believe he said he was going to come down and watch our games."

"He'll have to say hi to Hinata, then," Mikaela said with a grin. "I hope I get to see him too."

"I'm sure you will," Akaashi agreed. "I'll catch you later, I have to go organize my team."

Mikaela laughed, realizing that Akaashi was the captain and therefore had a lot of wild children to control. "Good luck out there," she said with a wave, watching him turn and mix himself into the crowd. She couldn't believe how good it was to see him again. It was weird, because they were never that close- well, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?

Tsukishima entered her mind and she squeezed her eyes shut. _I refuse to think about him right now. I want to reunite with people and enjoy myself. I can't think about him. I can't-_

"Mikaela!"

She opened her eyes and turned, and her face lit up. "Motoya!"

Mikaela jogged over to the Itachiyama libero and they hugged in greeting. Mikaela grinned into his shoulder- she hadn't got to see him at the training camp, because he was a third year and too old for the camp now, so seeing him now and seeing that he still remembered her was heartwarming. "Good to see you again," he said brightly as he pulled away, looking her up and down. "That leg's catching as much attention as usual."

She scowled, but it flipped back into a smile not even a second later. "Nice to see you too. How Japan's number one libero?"

His grin widened. "Not too bad, how Japan's number one ace?"

"Isn't he on your team?"

"Female ace, dummy."

"Motoya!" Mikaela said with a laugh, shoving his shoulder. "You _know_ I'm not even in the magazine! Don't tease me like that!" It was true; _Volleyball Monthly_ came out right after the Inter High, which is when they showed Japan's top aces, setters, and liberos. Kageyama had actually come in second for high school setters in the magazine, and Mikaela wouldn't shut up about it for weeks, even though Kageyama didn't to care all too much. Number two in Japan was huge- even if it was only just behind Miya Atsumu.

Regardless, the Karasuno girls hadn't made it to the Inter High. There was no game footage or coverage of her; there was no way she could've even been considered for the top.

Motoya rolled his eyes. "I watched your finals. You weren't kidding when you said you were good. There's no way you're not the number one ace by next year."

Mikaela didn't think her smile could get any bigger. "You think so?"

"Yep! Even Sakusa agreed." He jerked a thumb at the corner of the room, and Mikaela laughed when she saw Sakusa pressed up into the corner, glaring at anyone who came near him. "We'll definitely come check out one of your games. I want to see that ambidexterity in person."

"Thanks," she replied, genuinely flattered. "I'll check out your game too."

"Along with the fifty other games you've promised to watch?"

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "I- I have not!" she stammered. "I don't even... You're the second person I've talked to that's not from Karasuno!"

"Let's see," Motoya said teasingly, holding up his hand to count off on his fingers. "There's Karasuno, obviously, then us, you were talking to Fukurodani's setter, there's no way Miya doesn't try and coerce you into watching his games, your team as a whole is pretty close with Nekoma... and that's not even considering the girls." He closed his hand into a fist and grinned. "You were a manager for a year, and you went to an elite training camp- both the guys' and the girls'. You know too many people."

She groaned and slapped herself in the forehead. "More like too many people know me," she grumbled.

Motoya glanced around. "Yeah, there's an awful lot of people staring at you."

"It's the prosthetic," Mikaela defended immediately, smirking. "I can't let the fame get to my head, hm?"

He laughed, clearly remembering how last year he'd told her not to get a big head. "Seems like it's working for you, though," he objected. "Alright, I'm going to go collect Sakusa. I'll catch you later?"

"Of course," she promised, and Motoya waved before he wandered off into the crowd. In an effort to get back to her team, Mikaela ran into Chigaya from camp last year and said hi briefly, excited to see that he was at nationals this year. Eventually, she made it back to her team, who were pressed close to the Karasuno boys in an effort to stay together. "Sorry," Mikaela apologized as soon as was close enough to be heard. "Got a bit caught up."

"A bit?" Taki said in disbelief. "There's so many people here, and you know, like, all of them!"

"I don't..." Mikaela sighed, shaking her head. "Just a couple guys I met from camps. I don't know _everyone-"_

"Guess who?"

Someone's hands had covered her eyes, and judging from the teasing tone, it was probably Atsumu. Mikaela grinned without meaning to, and she said, "Atsumu, I swear to god, I'll kick you."

"You got me," he admitted, pulling his hands away, and Mikaela turned around to face him. It'd been over a year since she'd seen him, but he looked almost the same; he'd redyed his hair the same colour and still had that same stupid smirk. He looked good, and from what Mikaela had seen in the videos of his qualifier match, he was playing better than ever. Atsumu's eyes lit up when he saw she was grinning. "Happy to see me, for once?"

"It's been a year," Mikaela admitted, opening her arms. "You look great."

Atsumu seemed surprised, but he held out his arms and hugged her in return. "So do you," he said before he pulled away. He spun her around so that she was facing her team again and draped an arm over her shoulders. "So, is this your team?" he asked easily. "Good looking group."

The effect was instantaneous. It looked like every single Karasuno girl was blushing, and from the corner of her eye, she saw some of the older Karasuno boys who remembered Atsumu from last year glaring at him. Mikaela's heart jumped in her chest when she noticed Tsukishima watching them with a glare, and she jerked her eyes away and back to her team.

"Mikaela, you didn't tell me you knew Miya Atsumu," Sudou said, keeping herself calm.

Atsumu grinned, and his grip on her shoulders tightened. "Aw, Princess," he mocked, "ya didn't tell them we're best buds?"

"I told them you're an asshole," Mikaela corrected, but she made no move to shake his arm off. "They've all seen the interview, I just told them that you ambushed it. And was I wrong?"

"Not exactly," he said with a laugh. The intercom buzzed, calling people to their spots for the opening ceremony. "Alright, when's your game today?"

"It's one of the last ones," Mikaela replied, glancing at Sudou to confirm. Her captain nodded. "Yeah, we're the second last one of the day, I think."

His eyes widened. "Great! We're one of the first. You come watch mine and I'll watch yours."

"Sounds good," she agreed easily, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. "Go get your team. I'll catch you later." Atsumu pulled his arm off of her shoulder and waved before he took off into the crowd. Mikaela turned back to her team, a smile on her face, and grinned sheepishly when she saw the rest of her team staring at her with dropped jaws. "...What?"

"Oh my _god!"_ Taki cried out, and that seemed to start the onslaught of questions and interrogation. Mikaela squawked and laughed, brushing someone's hand off of her shoulder and dodging all the questions that were thrown at her. There were jealous squabbles, bursts of "can you introduce me!" and other indignant shouts of "I thought you said you weren't close!"

"We're not close," Mikaela defended weakly, his eyes flitting over to the boys' team. She locked eyes with Kageyama and he mimed punching his hand into his palm. She rolled her eyes and looked back at her team. "He just likes to rile people up, that's all. I've told you all the whole leg-throwing story."

"But still!" Kikuchi insisted, grabbing Mikaela's shoulder. "That's not how someone acts when you're just distant acquaintances!"

"I haven't seen him in a year," she protested feebly. "I haven't seen _any_ of these guys in a year."

"He totally likes you," one of the other girls added, and Mikaela flushed. "See! You're blushing!"

Mikaela tried to quell the heat behind her cheeks that came with the embarrassment of being put on the spot, and protested, "look, it's been way too long. Besides, he asked me out last year, and I said no, so there's no way-"

"He _asked_ you _out?!"_ Taki practically shrieked.

 _Shit, shit, shit, should not have said that._

"Ceremony!" Mikaela said desperately, turning to Sudou and pleading with her eyes that she would back her up and save her the humiliation.

Sudou sighed, but gave Mikaela a look that indicated that the conversation was nowhere near over. "Let's get going, ladies," she said firmly, ignoring the collective sigh from the group. "We have to go for the starting ceremony." She cast a long look at Mikaela before she led the girls down to the stadium floor.

Mikaela sighed and dragged herself along. This was going to be a long week.

* * *

Mikaela kept her promises. She watched the Fukurodani game for a bit, then jumped over to the Itachiyama game for a set and a half. Motoya noticed she was watching and gave her a friendly wave, and even Sakusa nodded at her before returning to his position on the court. She stopped by Nekoma briefly to saw hi to Kenma and Lev while they were warming up- they talked about Kuroo for a bit, who was apparently adjusting well to university life- and Mikaela made sure to swing by the Shinzen game and say hi to Chigaya.

Her teammates were baffled with how she knew so many people. No excuse would calm them down, and Mikaela wasn't particularly inclined to share her _Atsumu-asked-me-out_ story. So, it was much easier to avoid the team for the time being and watch the games.

She popped by the Inarizaki game when they were starting their second set. She caught Atsumu's eye and he waved at her, shooting her a cocky smirk, and she just rolled her eyes. Osamu waved as well, and Mikaela gave him a wave back; Atsumu didn't seem to appreciate his brother getting a wave and not him, judging by the glare he sent her way.

Inarizaki won their second set, winning them the game. Mikaela was impressed by how good they were- more than last year. She'd seen the tournament schedule: Karasuno and Inarizaki would play each other in the third round, if they both got that far. That'd be a good game.

Speaking of Karasuno, she regrouped with her team to watch the Karasuno boys' game. She wished Kageyama and Hinata good luck briefly before they jumped onto the court, and headed up to join her team in the stands.

"This is a relatively easy match up for them," Sudou said firmly, holding a sheet of paper that held the tournament information. "They should be fine."

"Of course they'll be," Kikuchi said brightly as the whistle blew to signal the start of the match. "So, Mikaela, can we start getting details now?"

"The game's on," Mikaela said quickly, pointing at the court as Kageyama served to start the game off.

That excuse worked well for a while, until Karasuno was up 14 - 11 and the other team called a time out to see if they could stop the momentum. No sooner had the time out been called did the girls all round on her, nearly making Mikaela flinch. "So?" Kikuchi prompted innocently. "Details, girl."

Mikaela sighed. "You all really want to hear it?"

"Obviously," Taki said, and the others nodded in agreement.

She groaned, slapping herself in the forehead and covering her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the looks on her teammates' faces. "We met at the training camp, I threw my prosthetic at him, we had to clean up the storage room as punishment," she said quickly, trying to make the story as short as possible, "we gave up fighting each other and made a truce, he asked me out at nationals but I had just started dating Tsukishima so I said no, and I haven't seen him since."

"That's it?" Kikuchi asked.

"That's it," she confirmed.

The girls hummed knowingly. "Would you have said yes if you weren't dating Tsukishima?" Shoko asked.

Mikaela stuck out her tongue. "Maybe? Probably not. He's pretty popular."

"So are you," Taki pointed out.

"It's different though." Mikaela sighed, sinking into her seat. The time out had long since finished, but the girls still seemed more invested in Mikaela's love life than in the game. "Look, I haven't seen him in a year and I've already rejected him," she said firmly. "Even if he was still interested, I don't know if I am. And that's all there is to it."

"Alright, let's stop harassing her," Sudou piped up, and Mikaela could've cried in relief. "She's got enough harassment to deal with outside of the team."

The girls mumbled in agreement, with a few of them even apologizing to her, before they broke into their respective cliques to whisper about the new gossip. Mikaela groaned and tucked her jacket up further onto her shoulders. "Thank you," she mumbled to Sudou.

Her captain shrugged. "You've got more to you than we all initially thought, Mikaela. You can't expect them to not be interested."

She snorted. "Yeah. Mystery girl, that's me."

"Well, you never stick around for team bonding much," Sudou pointed out, and Mikaela realized she was right. Normally after practice, the girls would wind down together and start having casual conversation, but Mikaela would always jump over to the guys' practice so she could train more. "Do you want an honest opinion, based on what I know about you and what I've seen?"

"Humor me," she grumbled.

Sudou rolled her eyes, and after making sure no one else was listening, she started talking. "My bet's on that you're not over Tsukishima," she said, and Mikaela instantly stiffened. "However, if Miya likes you- and from what I saw, I'm pretty sure he does- I think it might be good for you. A good way to get over Tsukishima and have a bit more fun. You've been in a much better mood the past few hours than I've seen in the past few months."

"You think I should use Atsumu as a rebound?" Mikaela asked, surprised.

"Not a rebound, exactly," she clarified. "I think you've been broken up with Tsukishima long enough for this to not be considered a rebound. But..." she frowned at her. "Mikaela, no one can mention Tsukishima without you clamming up. You're not over him."

Mikaela pursed her lips, refusing to respond.

"And who knows? Maybe it won't work with Miya and you'll get back together with him later. Regardless," Sudou continued, crossing her arms, "I think it's important that you're happy now. And maybe to be happy now, you're going to have to put energy into something other a past relationship."

She chuckled. "You're a pretty good captain, Sudou-senpai."

Sudou grinned. "I try."

"You think he likes me, though?" Mikaela asked, frowning. "I'm pretty sure he does stuff like that to bug me."

She rolled her eyes. "You really are dense, aren't you? He said you looked good and he called you Princess, plus there was plenty of physical contact. And you've heard it all- boys tease girls because?..."

"Because they like them," she finished. "Alright, I see where you're coming from."

"Just give it a shot," Sudou said with a shrug. "Who knows, maybe you'll enjoy yourself, even if it's just for a bit."

Mikaela was quiet for a minute, watching as Karasuno scored their twentieth point. "Thanks, Sudou-senpai," she said softly as Tsukishima pumped a fist on the court- he'd gotten a block point. "No guarantees, but I'll give it a shot."

"That's all I can ask for," her captain said, squeezing her hand briefly. "That's all I can ask for."

That was when Mikaela realized just how lucky she was to have such a fantastic team.

* * *

Their first game was against a team from southern Japan. They were good, but Mikaela was sure it was nothing they couldn't handle. Their ace was powerful but so was she, and they were both well rounded teams.

The problem was how to handle the cheer section.

No, not the other team's cheer section.

 _Theirs._

Mikaela groaned out loud when she glanced up at the audience and saw the Nekoma crew pile into the stands, crowding in with the Karasuno boys, who had won their first match in straight sets. She spotted Motoya and Sakusa leaning up against the railing, along with a few other Itachiyama players, and Akaashi was sitting with someone from his team.

Saeko was set up with her taiko team, so they had the noise. At this rate, they had the advantage in pure numbers- they could've done without Saekos' drum team.

"Mikaela," Sudou said, her eyes also glued to the stands, "you're quite popular."

"Don't remind me," she grumbled, turning back to the warm up.

"No, this is a good thing!" Kikuchi said with a grin, her optimism as uplifting as always. "We have so much support!"

"I'm pretty sure they're all here for Mikaela," Taki teased, elbowing Mikaela lightly. "Not that this is a bad thing! You've attracted us a lot of support, Mikaela-senpai. We're going to win for sure."

Mikaela shook her head. "This is so embarrassing."

As if on cue, someone called her name. Mikaela turned and laughed- Atsumu and Osamu. Not just them, but the entire Inarizaki team. They piled into the stands, ignoring dirty looks from other players (namely the Karasuno boys) and Atsumu waved cheerily. Mikaela waved halfheartedly, and was about to turn away when she heard someone call for her again.

"Is it true?" one of the Inarizaki guys yelled. Mikaela didn't recognize him from last year, and he looked young- a first year, most likely. "You hit Atsumu-senpai in the face with your leg?"

"Yep!" she yelled back, and the team burst into laughter as they started harassing their setter. Mikaela smirked to herself at the disgruntled look on Atsumu's face before she turned back to her own team. "We good to go?"

"Yes!" the girls cheered, and they left the court to huddle up on the sidelines.

Sudou lodged an arm around Kikuchi's shoulders and then another around Mikaela's. "Alright, ladies," she said firmly, squeezing Mikaela's shoulders. "This is it. Let's show them why Niiyama's not here anymore."

"And that Mikaela's not the only one to look out for," Kikuchi said teasingly.

Hiba rolled her eyes. "That entire crowd is here to watch her."

"I didn't ask them to," Mikaela grumbled.

"Make them watch you, then," the vice captain said with a smirk, looking around at the team. "This would be a perfect chance to catch some attention, wouldn't it, ladies?"

The girls laughed and stuck their hands in the middle, running through the Karasuno cheer and filing onto the court. Mikaela huffed, ready to leave all of her nerves on the sideline. She had to put all she had into this game if they were going to win. She couldn't afford to go at less than one hundred percent.

Sudou tapped her on the shoulder. "You good? You're serving first."

"Sure," Mikaela agreed, taking the volleyball from her. "It's a lot of pressure," she admitted, biting her lip. "All of them watching."

"Then show them what they want to see," the captain said firmly. "A good game."

She nodded and backed up to behind the service line, holding the ball out in front of her and facing the court. The other team, Fozinodachi High, was set up in place. She exhaled slowly, closing her eyes and visualizing her serve.

The whistle blew.

Game on.

Her serve was received, but the receive went long and came back over the net. Mikaela received it, and Kikuchi got a block out to get their first point. The game was pretty steady from there. Fozinodachi was good and had some solid players, and their ace packed a punch.

The score was 5 - 4 for Karasuno when Fozinodachi's ace slammed the ball through their blocker's arms, and it bounced off of their libero's arms and rocketed up at the sidelines. "That's a lot of power," Kikuchi said, shaking her head.

Mikaela was in the front row, so there wasn't much she could do about receiving. But now was her chance. She was powerful too; time to prove it.

The opposing team served, and their libero received it cleanly this time. It went right to the setter, and Mikaela dashed up the side of the court. "Here!" she called, and their setter put it up her way. Mikaela reared her hand back and slammed the ball down in a cross court shot. The opposing team's libero dove to receive it, but it ricocheted painfully off of her arms and flew up into the stands.

She landed from her jump and pumped her fist as her team cheered. _That felt good._ She glanced at the stands and her grin widened when she saw people cheering.

 _They're here to support me. I can do this._

The first set went on from there. The points went back and forth and stayed tight most of the way through. Any time Karasuno would pull ahead with a two point lead, Fozinodachi would catch up again almost immediately. Mikaela was throwing a lot more into her spikes than anything else- she was becoming more and more committed to getting more and more power. She was going head to head with Fozinodachi's ace and she was loving the sense of rivalry that she was getting from her.

They ended up winning the first set 26 - 24, but the second set was becoming just as treacherously long as the first. The score stayed as tight as always, with Karasuno always being one point ahead. _If this goes into a third set, I might die,_ Mikaela mused to herself as the set continued on. Fozinodachi's ace was looking tired too, but the rest of her teammates were making up for it through nice high receives and easy sets.

"You're good," Fozinodachi's ace said with a grin after a grueling point that Karasuno had come out on top of. Mikaela had whipped out a left-handed spike that hit the back line perfectly. "I've heard stories, but you live up to the hype."

Mikaela laughed, wiping sweat from her forehead. "Thanks, I think. You're really something too."

She snorted. "I don't have quite the fan base you do, though."

"Yeah, I..." she shook her head, too tired to explain. "It's not all that great," she assured her.

"You sure about that?"

Mikaela glanced up at the stands, her eyes trailing over the Karasuno boys, Nekoma, Akaashi, Motoya and Sakusa, and then finally settling back on Tsukishima. As soon as she locked eyes with him, he turned away. She pursed her lips and tore her eyes away, eventually settling on Atsumu. He noticed her looking at him and smirked.

"Eh, they're not all bad," she admitted, her lips twitching into a grin.

The score was 23 - 22 for Karasuno, and it was only the second set, but Mikaela was already feeling the exhaustion in her leg. She'd been jumping a lot more often than usual today; if they went into a third set, she didn't know if she'd make it all the way through. She rotated into the back row, setting up for her serve. Her toss felt good, but as soon as she struck the ball with her palm, she knew it was out. Sure enough, the ball curved wickedly and landed out. Tied up at 23.

"Shake it off!" Kikuchi called.

 _I'm too tired to be pissed about it,_ Mikaela thought with a roll of her eyes.

Hiba received the serve from Fozinodachi, and their setter put it up for Mikaela for a back row set. She leaped and tipped the ball over the blocker's fingertips, and even though one of the Fozinodachi players got to the ball, she couldn't get it high up enough in the air for anyone else on her team to save it. 24 - 23 for Karasuno, set point.

"Nasty!" Taki cheered, patting Mikaela's shoulder.

"Let's get this point," Sudou called out.

"Please," she grumbled.

Sudou served and Fozinodachi received and spiked it back; Mikaela received, putting it up cleanly in the air. Their setter put it up for Taki, but Fozinodachi wasn't shaken and received it cleanly. Mikaela's eyes darted after the volleyball, trying to figure out who their setter was going to use.

The ball went to the left, and Mikaela put herself in position to receive the cross, but the spiker hit it off of the blocker's arm and it spun out. Hiba dove and managed to save the ball, but she couldn't get it up very high- barely more then a few feet above her.

Mikaela's body was moving faster than her mind; she ran for the ball, knowing full well Hiba was still laying on the ground and in the way.

 _What do I do?-_

 _Ah, fuck it._

"Stay down!" she yelled out.

Mikaela pushed off and vaulted over her teammate in a diving roll, smacking the ball up as high as she could and as far behind her as she could get it. As soon as the ball was clear, she pushed her hands out and rolled, successfully diving over Hiba and rolling safely to her feet. Something clicked in her wrist and she winced but didn't dwell on it; she was too focused on turning around to see what had happened and trying to prop all of her weight onto her left leg.

"Free ball!" she heard someone on Fozinodachi called, and she felt her head buzz. Someone had gotten the third hit and they'd gotten it over. It was safe.

She ran back to center court, trying to get back into position, and Hiba scrambled to her feet to take her spot. "Thanks!" she called, but Mikaela couldn't find the energy to reply. If they didn't get this point _now,_ she was going to be seriously pissed. After a save like that?

Taki got a soft block, and Hiba received the ball and put it up for their setter. Mikaela summoned the energy to run forward from the back row, but thankfully, their setter put it up for Kikuchi instead. Kikuchi got a clean block out, and the point was theirs. They had won.

 _"Karasuno wins and advances to round two!"_ one of the announcers called, and Mikaela collapsed on the court, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling.

 _Thank god._

"You good, Mikaela?" Kikuchi asked, extending a hand. Mikaela took it, and the vice captain pulled her up from the ground. "That was a ridiculous save!"

"You leaped over her!" Taki said excitedly. "It was like something out of a movie!"

"Thanks for not crushing me," Hiba added.

Mikaela laughed weakly. "Let's get this over with so I can go nap."

The team laughed and lined up to shake hands with the other team. Mikaela grinned when she shook hands with Fozinodachi's ace, and the ace grinned back at her. It was a good game. They lined up to bow, and Mikaela couldn't help but smile. Most of the guys had stayed for the whole thing. As soon as they were cleared to go, Mikaela made her way up to the stands with the rest of her team.

Obviously, the Karasuno boys were the first to greet them. "Great game," Kageyama said, giving her a quick hug.

"That save at the end was incredible!" Hinata shouted, waving her hands above his head. "You _flew!"_

"Great job, Kaisha," Yamaguchi said with a grin. Yachi joined them and waved at Mikaela with a smile on her face, congratulating her on the great game. Mikaela thanked all of them weakly, still exhausted despite the adrenaline of the win pumping through her veins. Her left wrist was kind of sore, but she assumed it was just from landing on it after her roll.

Mikaela excused herself quickly and made her way over to Motoya and Sakusa. "Thanks for coming to watch," she said, grinning. "I appreciate it."

"It was a great game!" Motoya said, turning to Sakusa. "Right?"

Sakusa huffed from behind his mask. "Not as bad as I thought it would be," he admitted grudgingly.

"I'll take it," Mikaela said, rolling her wrist in a circle, and Motoya laughed.

"That was a great save at the end there, by the way. Pro libero worthy."

She laughed. "Thanks. If we hadn't gotten the point, that would've been really aggravating." She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I don't know what I was thinking. I'm just glad I didn't land on her."

"You almost did," someone else said, and Mikaela turned to see Atsumu. "Great game, Princess."

She scowled. "You've got to stop calling me that. Thanks, though. Did you really have to bring the whole team?"

"They wanted to come," someone added, and Mikaela grinned when she saw it was Osamu. "Nice to see you again, Mikaela. You're a legend to our team, and our first years wanted to see you in person. They didn't believe Atsumu."

Mikaela shot a bemused look at the other twin, and he rolled his eyes. "Believe me now, kiddos?" he said sarcastically, turning back to the rest of his team.

One of the first years shot their hand up. "Can you hit him again?"

"I'd love to," Mikaela said before Atsumu could protest, flexing her wrist. "But I think he needs what few brain cells he has left for the rest of your games."

The first years drew in their breath, but the upper years just laughed. "Roasted," one of them shouted, and Mikaela laughed. Atsumu pouted and Osamu held out his hand for a fist bump, which Mikaela happily returned. After Osamu announced that they had about fifteen minutes until they were grouping up to leave, Atsumu tapped her on the shoulder.

She blinked in surprise. "What now?"

"Walk with me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

Normally, she would've asked where to, or if he had something to talk about, or why- but all Mikaela could think about was her conversation with Sudou earlier. She flushed, then nodded. "One second," she said quickly, and she darted around him and waved at Sudou to catch her attention. "Captain!" she called, and Sudou looked over. "How long do we have until we leave?"

She shrugged. "Half an hour, give or take."

"Okay. Can you watch my bag?" Mikaela asked, offering her bag up. She grabbed her jacket from it quickly.

Sudou frowned, then glanced up. Her eyes fixed on someone behind her, and Mikaela didn't have to turn around to know she was looking at Atsumu. "Definitely," Sudou said firmly, snatching her bag from her. Mikaela winced as the strap caught around her wrist and gave it a tug. "You've got an hour. Hell, take two hours."

"But you said half-"

"Take as much time as you need."

 _"Captain."_

"Stop bickering with me and go have fun. Half an hour, but don't sweat it if you're longer," Sudou said quickly, her eyes flickering between the two of them. "Remember what I said."

Mikaela sighed. "Believe me, I do. Thanks, Sudou-senpai." She pulled her jacket over her shoulders and turned back to Atsumu, who was smirking at her. "What?"

"Your team's fun," he said eventually. He glanced up at the stands and winked, and Mikaela nearly shuddered as she heard several girls squealing. _Please tell me that's no one from my team._ "Come on, I got a place in mind," Atsumu said breezily, turning around.

Mikaela fell into step with him. "A place? Where could we possibly go in this stadium?"

"Infirmary tent."

"Are you hurt?" she asked immediately, frowning at him. "Sore? You don't walk like you're injured. Are we visiting someone? Did you-"

"Calm down there, Princess," Atsumu said, and she glared at him. "I'm not hurt. You are."

"I think I'd know if I'm hurt, dumbass."

"Really? Then how's your wrist?"

Mikaela fell quiet and nearly stopped walking when she realized she had been subconsciously flexing her wrist in a circle. "You noticed," she said softly, her shoulders sinking. He'd picked up on it. Either he was really perceptive or he'd been watching her. Or both. "Atsumu, I don't need a nurse," Mikaela insisted quickly, stopping in the middle of the path. "It's just sore. That's all."

Atsumu paused, turning to face her. "From your save at the end. Right?"

She pursed her lips and nodded.

"Painful?"

"Not really. Just sore."

"You sure? You're not shittin' me right now?"

She shook her head. "I'll ice it tonight. Besides, this is why I'm ambidextrous. I'll be fine."

Atsumu didn't look satisfied, but he sighed. "I get the feeling you're hella stubborn." Mikaela smirked, which was enough of an answer for him. "Fine, I won't force ya. I just thought you might want an out from your many adoring fans without making them all freak out if you really were injured."

She was oddly touched. _He's thoughtful._ "Thanks," she said awkwardly. She glanced around and noticed they were stopped near a court. "Want to watch the game?"

"Sure," he said easily, and they both walked over to the railing and glanced down at the court. It was a guys' team, and Mikaela didn't recognize either of the teams, but it gave her something else to look at so she could avoid awkward eye contact with Atsumu. Sudou had said he might still like her, and even if Mikaela wasn't convinced she liked him too... _God,_ this was confusing.

"So," she said awkwardly, trying to ease into conversation. "How've you been the last year?"

"It's really been a year, hm?" Atsumu smirked. "You know me, volleyball this and volleyball that. Inter High wasn't as good as we wanted, but we're going to win the Spring Tournament." He glanced at her. "We're going to kick the crap out of Karasuno in round three."

Mikaela grinned. "You can try."

"How 'bout you?"

"Same here," she replied, her eyes following the play on the court below them. "Volleyball this and volleyball that." Tsukishima popped into her mind and she sunk lower onto the railing, trying to banish the blond from her head. "A lot of volleyball," she said with a miserable laugh.

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing."

"It is. And it isn't. It's hard to explain."

Atsumu shrugged. "Eh, give it a shot."

Mikaela shrugged back at him. "I did a lot of volleyball and I dropped a lot of stuff. Ruined a lot of friendships and... had to deal with the consequences of that over the past few months. I mean, I'm here now, right?" She laughed weakly, cursing herself for thinking of Tsukishima at a time like this.

"Well, ya made it to nationals, didn't ya? Took a no name team and got them here." Atsumu nudged her with his elbow. "That's impressive."

"Thanks," she said with a wry smile, and the words sunk straight into her heart. All she'd been cursing herself with for the past few months was how this was all a mistake and how she'd ruined a lot of good things in her life for something that wasn't worth it. To hear that her work was worth something and was, in his words, impressive, meant a lot to her. "Thanks, Atsumu," Mikaela repeated, flashing him a quick smile. "I needed to hear that."

Good _lord,_ he was blushing. Mikaela spun her head away again, sure that she was red now too. "No prob," he said quietly. It had been a while since she'd flushed like that, not since-

 _Stop thinking of Tsukishima, you dumbass._

"So," Atsumu said suddenly, and Mikaela looked back at him. "Social media, eh?"

She groaned, resisting the urge to smack her head off the railing in front of her. "You know how many followers I have now? Something around twenty, twenty five thousand. Because of a god damn video. It's all your fault."

He laughed. "My fault? You threw your leg at _me_ , Princess."

"You _really_ need to find a new nickname."

"Hey, don't blame me. You vetoed Mika-chan faster than I could blink."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "That's because you remind me of someone I used to know, and he called me Mika-chan all the time. Would never use anything else. And you two are already pretty similar. Plus, I hate that nickname."

"Really? Who's the guy?"

"One of my senpais. He's in university now, but he's one of the ones who taught me how to serve." She cast a sideways glare at Atsumu, which only made him smirk more. "He's got a ridiculous fan base too. He's practically an idol, like you."

Atsumu grinned. "You think I'm an idol?"

"Dumbass, you _know_ you're basically an idol. My team harassed me for everything I knew about you after I saw you this morning, plus I got harassed at training camp." Mikaela sighed, but she was smirking. She wasn't actually mad. "You enjoy causing me misery, don't you?"

"Ya got me," he replied, raising his hands in mock surrender. "One of my favourite hobbies."

Mikaela laughed, and they fell into comfortable silence for a minute. She watched the game on the court below them- one team's libero had just made a fantastic foot save, which caused the crowd to cheer in excitement. She glanced at the score. It was midway through the third set, tied at 14 for now. A tight game. "You know," Mikaela started, turning back to Atsumu, "I-"

"Go out with me," he blurted out.

She stopped short. All she could do was stare at him with her jaw hanging. "That was abrupt," she forced out.

"...I said that out loud, didn't I," Atsumu said slowly, and Mikaela forced herself to nod, still shell-shocked. "Shit. Ah, whatever. Unless you're still going out with Four Eyes?" Mikaela shook her head slowly. "Cool. Want to go out after the game tomorrow? Both our games are relatively early, and even if it's just an hour, I'm sure it'd be fine."

She finally forced her jaw to clamp shut. "You're serious?" Mikaela said slowly, her brain still reeling.

"Why are you so surprised every time?" Atsumu asked with a huff. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I mean..." she trailed off, and her brain found the need to throw the image of Tsukishima into her mind. She did her best to banish him from her head as quickly as she could. "You did this a year ago," was all she came up with. "You still like me?"

He shrugged. "I liked ya then, I like ya now. Plus you're single now."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why..." Mikaela gestured vaguely at the people around them. "You literally could have your pick out of anyone."

Atsumu smirked. "You really want a blown out speech of why I like you? Damn, you're cheesier than I thought." She scowled and was about to protest when he continued. "Look, you're great. That's why I asked for your number last year. You didn't tell anyone I did that, did you?" Mikaela shook her head. Telling people would've resulted in a lot of chaos and a lot of death threats. "That's one of the things that makes ya different. I ask out other girls, and they brag about it for weeks on end. Go out with me for a few weeks, take some cute pictures, then decide I'm only good for being seen with in public."

Mikaela didn't know what to say, so she just pursed her lips and listened.

"Nah, I don't want that," he said casually, rubbing the back of his head. "It ain't fun. You didn't really say anything, even though that would've made you the most envied person at your training camp."

"You really think that highly of yourself?" Mikaela grumbled.

He grinned. "Princess, I know so."

"Cocky."

"Yep."

"I have enough attention as is," she explained, knocking her prosthetic against the railing. "Don't really need a hoard on angry fan girls after me too." She thought of Oikawa and shuddered. "Atsumu, I'm really flattered-"

"Wait." He paused her and fished through his jacket pocket, pulling out his phone. "Look, ya don't have to answer me right away. Whatever works. Let's just hang out tomorrow, okay?" Atsumu raised his eyebrows at her and smirked. "Besides, you look like you've got a lot on your mind." _Well, I can't argue with that._ "Can I get that number now?"

All she could see in her head was Tsukishima. Mikaela squeezed her eyes shut briefly and thought about Sudou had told her earlier.

 _It might be good for you._

 _Just give it a shot. Who knows, maybe you'll enjoy yourself, even if it's just for a bit._

"Sure," Mikaela blurted out before she could change her mind. She smiled. "Yeah. Sure."

The setter's eyes lit up, and she felt a bit lighter. "Great! Here," Atsumu said, handing her his phone. Mikaela took it from him and thumbed in her number with shaky fingers. "I'll text ya and we'll work something out for tomorrow."

"Sounds good," she squeaked out. "Thanks, Atsumu."

"Nah, thank _you,_ Mikaela," he said with a grin.

She grinned, and then something occurred to her. "Is that the first time you've actually used my name and not a nickname?"

He paused, mulling it over. "Possibly. Look, I have to get going, but I'll text ya later. Okay?"

"Okay," Mikaela agreed. "See you tomorrow, Atsumu."

"See ya, Princess," Atsumu said. He smirked at her, then stepped around her and walked away. Mikaela watched him leave, his eyes following the kanji on his jacket as he vanished into the crowd of people.

 _Miya Atsumu just asked me out._

She wasn't sure how she felt about that just yet.

Mikaela glanced down at the court as cheers rung out- one of the teams had won. She pushed herself off the railing and navigated through the people in the stadium, trying to get back to where the majority of Karasuno was located. Her head still felt a bit fuzzy- she couldn't believe that had actually happened.

When she pulled up to the bleachers, Kikuchi was the first to notice her. "Well?" she said eagerly, breaking out of her conversation with Shoko to lean towards her.

"Well, what?" she asked, frowning.

The entire Karasuno girls' team seemed to lean towards her. "We saw you leaving with Miya," Taki said excitedly. "What happened?"

She was about to reply when her phone buzzed in pocket. She pulled it out and glanced at the screen.

 ** _Unknown Number (16:22):_** _One_ _thirty tomorrow?_

Mikaela grinned. "I think I have a date," she said, surprised at how happy she sounded. She held up the phone screen.

The girls all crammed in together to read it, and Taki shrieked, nearly bursting her eardrums. All the girls started chattering at once, congratulating her and asking her how it happened. Sudou patted her on the shoulder and said something about how she was glad Mikaela followed her advice. The girls pestered her for details, but Mikaela kept it short and sweet, leaving out some of the bigger parts of the conversation. Her eyes subconsciously sought out the boys' team, but it looked like most of them were out somewhere else.

Not that they mattered.

 _I'll get over Tsukishima. I can get over him. And this is where it starts._

* * *

 **Early update because apparently you guys like reading this as much as I like writing it ;)**

 **Okay, look. I'm not exactly thrilled about it either (lies, I'm loving this). But it's highly unrealistic for someone to date one singular person throughout their lifetime, and he's asked her out in the past, and Atsumu's kind of fun to write... (at least that's I keep telling myself). Just enjoy it for now. You'll see. ;)**

 **somberset:** You got it! I almost lost myself in trying to work through their relationship and I had to remind myself that this story is about Mikaela in the end XD Thank you for your kind words! And thank you so much for your review! :)

 **hatakehoe:** Well, you're not wrong XD That's perfect! I was trying to make a scenario where people could see both sides of it and I'm so glad you were able to. Thank you so much for your kind words and thank you for your review! :D

 **yangri:** Aha thank you! XD I KNOW I REREAD THEIR CONFESSION AND I GOT SO MAD AT MYSELF LIKE HOW COULD I BREAK THEM UP LIKE THIS UGGGGGH but thank you! Sometimes it's hard for me to remember that this story is about Mikaela and not Tsukishima as well XD As for Shiratorizawa's number three, I didn't know whether to associate a name to her or not but honestly? I couldn't think of one XD I don't need too many labelled 'mean girls' aha so that was part of it. The start bit of this chapter was actually for you! I hadn't put in anything with Yuka and Kahano in a while and your review inspired me to throw a tid bit in. Kahano's not a bad person, she was just a bit jealous. Yuka's a flat out bitch, though. Thank you so much for such a long review! Much appreciated :)

 **SoccerSarah01:** Aha you're great XD The all-caps review makes me SO HAPPY I LOVE YOUR ENERGY and you're definitely right there's going to be a heart-warming talk in the future (maybe not the near future... but future for sure). Thank you so much for your kind words and your wonderful review! :D

 **haikyuurarepairs:** Aww thank you! Honestly it depends on my mood- sometimes I can pump out a good chapter (with revisions and editing) in a day, other times it takes me several weeks. It's not about the chapters being hard to write, but it's about finding the motivation to write them. I got so excited about this chunk of the story that I have the next three chapters after this written out XD Thank you so much, you're so kind! I'm so glad you're liking the story, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** He's brutal, eh? XD I hope this chapter didn't make you TOO mad, at least... I promise something's coming eventually. These things take time, and apparently I like a good slow burn. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Averi-nova:** I'm sorryyyyy XD I'm so glad I've got people so invested in her life, it seems like a lot of you are as invested as I am! That makes it extra hard to write the painful scenes like the break up and a few more awful ones coming up later, but it'll all be worth it in the end. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Zoreux:** It's gonna get worse before it gets better, please trust me on this one XD I hope you're not too mad about this most recent development, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** I've been glorifying Tsukishima so much that sometimes I forget he's actually an asshole XD I've actually had the Atsumu thing planned for a while... but your review just made it better ;) I apologize for the emotional roller coaster! Thank you so much for your kind words and your lovely review! :)

 **bbymojo:** I know, right? I've been too enamored in the hidden side of Tsukishima's personality (where he's sort of nice) that sometimes I forget he can be a total asshole. Mikaela forgot that too :( Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **luvielle:** Nooooo don't cry it's gonna get better I promise ;-; DO YOUR SCHOOL WORK EXCUSE ME but thank you so much for your dedication to this story and I'm so glad you've enjoyed it, I love reading your reviews every chapter :) Stay safe! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Ilas:** It'll get better!... Eventually!... I think!... Please just bear with me for a bit, it's going to get worse before it can get better. If you do cry... well, you won't be alone. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Dawning Wolf:** Oh my goodness you're so sweet T^T Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like this story so much! I hope you continue to enjoy it :) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **ElliElver:** Oh no I'm so sorry ack T^T It'll get better! *cough*eventually*cough* but I can _promise_ you everything will work out in the end. Whenever 'the end' is. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Siera-Knightwalker:** It's totally viable, you're absolutely right. I've got some ideas for the future and I'm going to see how much I can work about. I love your ideas and I'm going to see if I can find a way to incorporate them. Thank you! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **StarlightNALU:**...I'm sorry? Sort of? XD Thank you so much for your kind words, I really appreciate it! You're too kind! I'm so glad you like the story so much, I hope this chapter was good too! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** Depends on your definition of sadness... if Tsukishima and Mikaela not being together is 'sadness' then you might be in for a rough few chapters XD Thank you so much for your review (and all you do with Wattpad!) and I hope you're staying healthy! :)

 **Inola:** Noooo don't cry T^T It's gonna be a while... baby steps! But thank you so much, I can see how passionate you are about the story and it makes me so happy! Thank you so much for your dedication and your review! :D

 **jily shiper:** Yeah that about sums it up XD Yamaguchi is such a sweet boy I love him so much, I think I love him more since writing this story but that happens a lot XD I had to throw in some Nishinoya tidbits! I miss him so much in the manga oops ;-; Thank you so much, PM me soon! :)

 **Anne Nonimus:** Your long review made me so happy oh my goodness T^T First off, thank you so much! Secondly, I love names! When I picked out Mikaela's name, I wanted one that could be made into a lot of nicknames (Kai, Kaela, Mik, Mika) because I just love nicknames, aha. She's close with Iwaizumi and felt comfortable using his first name, and he had no problem with it. I've done my best to read up on proper name usage in Asian cultures but I'm still not perfect. 'Chikigoaka'? I made it up, oops XD Yep, Atsumu's making a reappearance! I had this planned out for a while (since I did the break up) and I'm glad a few readers are asking about it. Thank you so much for reading into this story so deeply and putting all those quotes in. Their relationship is so complex but that's what makes it so good... I'm looking forward to writing future chapters ;) Thank you so much for your long review! I really appreciate it! :D

 **Hunk-is-my-baby:** Don't worry, I'm still updating! Thank you so much for your kind words, I'm so glad you're enjoying this! I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate it! Yeah, before this story, I wasn't Tsukishima biggest fan, and now I'm basically in love XD I've done this to myself, so I can't be too upset. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **secretlifeofsam:** I apologize for invoking your emotions ;D On a weird side note you sound like someone I'd love to be friends with (sorry I don't know how else to say it XD) and I will update! I promise! The leg throwing incident is part of her personality now, I don't make the rules. That's it. Anyways, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **ice devil cat demon:** Oh my goodness you're so sweet, thank you so much T^T I'm so glad you binged this! I've done that myself and I never regret it XD Thank you so much for your kind words, I think my favorite parts always have to be her interactions with the canon characters too. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **cryinginmyroom:** Aw thank you! Please don't cry it'll get better I promise XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Guest:** Oh my, you're so sweet, I'm going to cry T^T I'm glad you can feel the emotions in every chapter and that you love this story so much, that makes me so happy! I apologize for getting you addicted but at least it's a good story? I think? XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **marsof2005:** First of all, thank you so much for all of your reviews! (and the ten month late birthday wishes XD) Second, thank you for all your kind words! I'm glad Wattpad brought you here, aha XD I'm so happy that you're enjoying this story so much, thank you so much for all of your amazing reviews! :D

 **cannotthinkofone:** Ahh me too! Just writing it down makes me so happy, Mikaela deserves all of that and more :) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Saki:** It's a good thing to be addicted to! You could be addicted to much worse XD I'm so glad you like how realistic Mikaela is! Trust me, I used to be really bad at OCs. Practice makes perfect! Thank you so much for your kind words and your awesome review! :D

 **PurpleCuddleBug:** THANK YOU SO MUCH! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE AND I'M SO GLAD PEOPLE ENJOYED READING IT AS MUCH AS I DID WRITING IT! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Thank you for all of the reviews, I think I'm still in shock. Over forty reviews in a week?! Thank you guys so so much, I don't deserve all of your kindness.**

 **I love you all. Stay safe! :)**


	57. The Date

**Thank you so much to luvielle, SoccerSarah01, Thundqh, yangri, Via-lee863, StarlightNALU, Chancellor S, edvy8, Mudblood, ice devil cat demon, ScarletSea, milkywayheartcupcake, Guest, Jemmyjem, Sayori1412, somberset, Frenchie Is French, Reading1dragon, SparklySuu, Free Range Chicken, Averi-nova, ElliElver, Zoreux, jily shiper, Guest, Siera-Knightwalker, Saki, MoonlightFox16, Monxu Aki, Swaggishima, cannotthinkofone, Guest, Guest, nikkali44, PurpleCuddleBug, secretlifeofsam, slicksakura123, Daffodil, Feathershade, caiuscassiuss, Shuminaaa, Guest, KuraiYuri, alabasterx, Kvid, TorenterLuna, Vampyre Frost, Yuudie, brenkath0132, lilith20047, , Julliane Pearanda Dalumpines, Opatra, Vylzana, arealnative, wolfedge10, Chrystal.K, Ktap4321, WestChica17, LandLegs, MiliPassoni, 22naomile, bitencourtluiza, the-asian-fidget, abi'eybie, AvidReader01, DolphinLover125, mickymerin, Missy Ksor, celery21, ch4tt3rb0x, mirasol. yellow, ayamiamy, ThatAnimeFreak007, i-ship-it-97, Choopi, UnluckyGhostNinja13, N0Wa1n7he, and StormyOvenT0aster for your support!**

 **I apologize if this chapter has grammatical errors- my grandfather passed away yesterday morning and I've been a bit of a wreck, but I still wanted to get this out. Thank you for your understanding :)**

 **Also thank you for all the reviews?! I spent over an hour writing over 2500 words of responses and I don't regret it one bit. I love you guys!**

* * *

 _"Seriously?!"_

Mikaela winced and shrugged sheepishly. "...Yeah?"

"And I thought Tsukishima was bad," Kageyama grumbled, pressing his palms against his forehead. "You're going on a date with Miya Atsumu." Mikaela nodded. "Christ. Kaisha, I'd prefer Tsukishima over him- hell, almost _anyone_ over him."

"That's why I'm doing it," she said softly, lacing her fingers together. "Tobio, I can't be hung up on him for the rest of my life."

"I know, I know, but..." he stared at her, his face slack. _"Atsumu?"_

She shrugged, smirking. "He's cute."

Kageyama made a face, and she laughed. "Okay, but if anything happens, I'm definitely beating the shit out of him," Kageyama said lowly, taking her hand and squeezing it briefly. "Keep me updated tomorrow."

"I will," she promised, smirking. "And on future dates, too."

"There's going to be _more?!"_

* * *

Mikaela made sure to ice her wrist well that night. When anyone asked what was wrong, she said it was just a precaution. It was, really; the pain was manageable and her wrist was, truthfully, feeling better.

She went 'full manager' on her team that night. Mikaela pulled up videos and articles about the team they were playing tomorrow- not a seeded team, luckily, but still a good team nevertheless. She dove into any weaknesses she'd been able to pick up on the bus ride there and what she'd gotten on their breaks, and although she wasn't as in depth with her profiles as she was last year, she still had a lot of good information.

Bright and early the next morning, Mikaela packed her bag, making sure to throw in a change of clothing. Their game was at ten, as was Atsumu's- the plan was to go out for one thirty. Just thinking about it made butterflies burst in her stomach- she hadn't been on a date in so long.

 _God, I don't even know if I like him like that._ She sighed, throwing her jean jacket into her bag. _I guess I'll find out._

"Let's go!" Sudou whispered, ushering them out of the motel. The boys didn't have their game until noon, so they were trying to let them sleep in a bit. It was only eight thirty in the morning, but still plenty early enough to make waking up unreasonable.

The subway was crowded, and they almost lost Taki and Shoko at one point, but they made it there in one piece. Mikaela didn't even get the chance to see anyone she knew or say hi- the girls went straight to their warm up court. Sudou was fired up and prepared to win another game, and her determination was spreading to the rest of the team.

They were halfway through their warm up, and Mikaela was jogging a volleyball back to the cart when she heard someone call her name. She looked up and grinned when she saw Atsumu. "Good luck!" he called, waving to her.

She waved back. "You too!"

He smirked at her and left, presumably to get to his own game. Mikaela grinned to herself and turned back around, then groaned when she saw Taki shooting her a snarky grin. "Aw," she cooed, jutting out her lower lip. "How cute!"

"We're not dating," Mikaela said with a scowl, jogging to the back of the drill line.

"Yet!" Taki called out, and she rolled her eyes.

The team they were playing today was Takuyami Girls' Academy. The problem with Takuyami was their serving; all of their girls, from what the videos had shown, had either wicked jump serves or perfect jump floaters. It wasn't uncommon for a lot of teams to have a few strong servers, but from what Mikaela could see in the footage, _all_ of them had strong serves. Which meant, by consequence, that they were all pretty damn good at receiving too. Not that their girls were slouches, but this wouldn't be easy.

"Let's go, ladies!" Kikuchi cheered, and the rest of the girls cheered back.

Mikaela grinned and flexed her wrist, resisting the urge to wince. It was bothering her, but nothing she couldn't handle. They had a game to win, after all. No time to be sore.

Takuyami served, and their libero managed to get it up the air fairly cleanly. Mikaela was in the back row, but she ran forwards anyways. The ball ended up going to Kikuchi, but at least she only had one blocker in front of her instead of three; her vice captain punched the ball through for their first point.

 _We always seem to get the first point of a set,_ Mikaela mused to herself.

To put it bluntly, Takuyami's serves became overwhelming fairly quickly. It was starting to become more and more apparent that the Karasuno girls weren't the greatest at receiving. They were by no means bad, but they didn't have enough experience dealing with nasty serves. Mikaela's serve was vicious, but she was the only girl on the team that had a constantly wicked serve- not enough to practice against.

They ended up dropping the first set, 25 - 23, and Mikaela was starting to get concerned about her wrist.

"We're good at adapting," Sudou said firmly as soon as they got off the court. "That's one of the things Karasuno is known for. Turning unfavorable situations to our advantage. So let's get that ball up high and go from there. Alright?"

The girls nodded, clearly frustrated. Mikaela bit her lip. She was playing fairly well, even if her left-handed spikes were starting to bother her and she was avoiding her left-handed serves. Those were a crucial part of what made her a good player. She could only do so much with just her right. _Oh, get it together Kaisha, every other player only uses one hand. You're just back to the same level as everyone else now._

"Let's do this," Sudou said, and they cheered quickly before heading back onto the court.

Mikaela grabbed their setter by the arm before she got onto the court. Aoki Manami was a third year and a good setter- very consistent and never seemed to waver. "Hey," she said quickly. "Can you stick with sending me right-hand stuff for now?"

"Testing something out?" Aoki asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "Something like that. Can I set for you at one point?"

"Why not?"

Mikaela grinned and took her spot on the court, up first to serve. _I'll show Takuyami that they're not the only ones with good serves,_ Mikaela thought to herself, waiting for the whistle to blow.

Well, it wasn't a service ace, but the pure force behind the ball that the Takuyami player had to dig sent it straight back over the net. It was high enough to give her plenty of time for a run up, so Mikaela yelled, "Aoki!" and took off from her spot in the back row. Thankfully, her setter understood and put herself under the ball, setting it for Mikaela. With no blockers in the way, Mikaela slammed the ball down between two of the players in the back row. _Two touch point._ "Nice set," she said, bumping fists with her setter as she made her way back to her serving spot.

"Good call," Aoki said, smirking at her.

Her next serve was an ace- the Takuyami receiver managed to get underneath the ball, but the volleyball spun far out of bounds. From there on, Karasuno managed to keep the two point lead throughout the set. Takuyami caught up to tie it near the twenty point mark, but Karasuno pulled ahead again to win the set 25 - 23.

Set three seemed to go even longer than both the first sets combined. It felt like Karasuno was barely holding it together- they threw a lot of emergency sets back over the net in a desperate attempt to keep the ball alive. It was 14 - 13 for Takuyami when Sudou called a time out.

"Girls, it feels like we're falling apart," Kikuchi said gravely as the team dragged themselves to the benches, exhausted.

"This is exhausting," Taki complained, spraying water onto her face.

Sudou nodded. "Well, it's a good thing we only have one game today. We've got to keep up the energy if we want to win this. Understood?" Everyone nodded, and Sudou sighed. She turned to Mikaela. "Mikaela, you have anything you think we could do?"

She glanced at the Takuyami bench, where they were chatting happily and easily, like they were playing for fun.

"Yeah," she said, realizing exactly what she wanted to do. "We're going to wipe those smug looks right off their faces." Mikaela turned back to her team and slammed her fist into her palm. "They're having a grand time. We're getting a lot of our points now through dumb luck and persistence. We need to surprise them, and we need to be more adaptable. We're going to move on the fly- pull together plays at the last second and save everything. Send it up as high as you can, give everyone as much time as you can."

Mikaela pointed at Aoki. "I'm going to toss to you at some point. I'm not telling you when, but be ready."

Their setter looked surprised, but she shrugged. "Okay?"

"Taki, you've never done a back row set. Today's the big debut," she said firmly, pointing at the middle blocker.

"Me?" she squeaked. "I don't know if I-"

"Sudou, you're a decent setter. Put something up for someone at some point, even Aoki. Kikuchi, your rebounds are fantastic, keep doing those and give us as much time to set up as you can. Hiba, start trying some quick attacks, you haven't done any of those in a while." Mikaela clapped her hands together. "We're going to do crap we've never done before, and we're going to do it well. If we want to win, we have to catch them off guard. Cool?"

 _I watched the boys win their games last year because they never stopped trying new things. We can do that too._

"Sounds like a plan," Sudou said, clapping Mikaela on the shoulder. "Let's play around with this."

The whistle blew, and Kikuchi grinned. "Let's give 'em hell, girls!"

That was exactly what they did. Mikaela suddenly started setting whenever their setter couldn't- she sent a bunch to Aoki, and once Takuyami started catching on, Sudou started setting when Aoki couldn't. Taki even tried a back row set on her serve- she messed up the timing, but still managed to tip the ball over. Hiba started jumping into more quick attacks, which was working well.

Takuyami was _scrambling,_ and even though there was a couple times that Karasuno botched it and messed it up, it worked more often than it didn't. The Takuyami players were suddenly watching out for all sort of plays instead of the standard ones that they normally used, which was helping divide up their blockers. Hell, the pain in Mikaela's wrist was becoming easier and easier to tolerate. Maybe it was the adrenaline.

Karasuno won, 28 - 26, and they had fun doing it.

Mikaela celebrated alongside her team, enjoying the baffled looks of confusion from Takuyami. They didn't seem to realize why they'd lost, which was fine with her. Karasuno had won, they were going to round three. "Line up, ladies!" Sudou said with a grin, and they all stood on the baseline and bowed to the audience. Mikaela didn't see the boys- their game was starting shortly, so they were probably warming up.

They were collecting their things so that they could get off of the court when someone called out, "Mikaela Kaisha, could I get a quick word?"

Mikaela looked up and saw a reporter at the side of the court. She glanced around, but the rest of her team was headed off of the court. Sudou had also been stopped by another reporter, but she looked like she was going to bite the reporter's head off. "Yeah, sure," Mikaela replied, rolling her wrist in a circle.

"Great! Congratulations on the win," he said with a grin. He was dressed in a light blue collared shirt and dress pants, as was his associate holding the video camera. "It was an exciting game. How are you feeling?"

"Fantastic," Mikaela said with a laugh. "Thanks."

"Karasuno looked like they were having difficulties, especially going into the third set," he said, his fingers clamped tight around the microphone, "but after you came out of that time out, the game changed. What do you think happened?"

"We started having fun," she replied, grinning. "We were stressing out on how to get into our plays and set up our attacks, so we just scraped all of it and tried to see what we could make up. It ended up working out."

He smiled. "Awesome. And this is the Karasuno girls' first time at nationals?"

"Yep."

"Third round in your first time here is quite impressive, and a large part of that has to be dedicated to you, Mikaela-san. You're quite the player."

Mikaela rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Thanks, but it's a team effort. I do my part, and they do theirs."

"Well put," the reporter said with a grin. "One last question. You've been working tirelessly despite your grave injuries in order to compete at a national level, which I'm sure requires incredible motivation. What would you say is the best part of this sport? What makes you work so hard?"

"The people," Mikaela said without hesitation. "No question about it. I've met my best friends through this sport, and they push me to do my best."

"Awesome. Thank you for your time, Mikaela-san."

"No problem."

The reporter waved at his camera man, and he set the camera down. He smiled one last time at Mikaela and turned away, heading off to go interview someone else, probably. Mikaela sighed and let her shoulders relax. She didn't think she'd ever get used to interviews.

She rejoined the girls off the court and near the merchandise stalls, where they had grouped to wait for Sudou. Sudou's interview was taking longer than hers was. "Interviews!" Taki squeaked, clapping her hands together. "We're famous!"

"We were famous as soon as we got her on our team," Aoki said with a roll of her eyes, jerking a thumb at Mikaela.

The ex-manager scowled. "Oh, come on."

"Am I wrong?"

"Sort of," Mikaela said, crossing her arms. "I just brought the attention here. You guys maintained it. It's a team effort."

"Is that what you told the reporter?"

The girls turned to see Sudou marching towards them, looking partly frustrated and partly smug. "Yeah, actually," Mikaela said, lacing her fingers together. "How'd your interview go, Captain?"

Sudou grumbled something under her breath that no one could catch. "I hate reporters," she said with a groan. "Let's just go watch the boys."

The Karasuno girls stuck together and made their way to the boys' court, where they could be seen warming up. Mikaela didn't recognize the team that they were playing. She glanced down at the court and waved; Yamaguchi saw her and waved back, grinning. Tanaka and Nishinoya followed their junior's gaze and spotted Mikaela, so they started waving too. Mikaela flashed them two thumbs up. They were going to win, no question about it.

"Alright, listen up," Sudou said as soon as the girls were settled in the bleachers. "We're going to watch the guys' game, but after that, you've got free time. If you want to stay and watch more games, or head back to the motel, it's completely up to you. Just make sure to stay in pairs, I don't want anyone lost. We're going to go over our match for tomorrow after dinner tonight, around six thirty. So your curfew is six, and if you miss dinner, don't expect us to feed you. Got it?"

Mikaela nodded along with the rest of the team, and groaned when she realized everyone was shooting her accusing looks. "I'll be back well before then," she promised.

"Just keep us updated!" Kikuchi said brightly.

"I don't understand why you're all so invested in this."

She got a chorus of quick answers, including "this is _Miya Atsumu_ we're talking about here!" and "the most interesting thing that's happened this week" and Mikaela scowled.

"We're literally at nationals, and _this_ is what you want to focus on?"

"Yes," the team said in unison.

Mikaela groaned. "This is why I hang out with the guys."

The boys' game started, and Mikaela forced herself to concentrate on the game. Karasuno came out strong and stayed ahead of the other team for most of the first set, with them catching up to tie it occasionally but never quite getting ahead. It was set point for Karasuno when Mikaela felt her phone buzz in her pocket.

 _ **Miya Atsumu (12:20):** You won?_

She grinned to herself and typed out her response.

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (12:20):** Yeah, you?_

 ** _Miya Atsumu (12:21):_** _Of course_

 ** _Miya Atsumu (12:21):_** _Where ya at? Watching a game?_

 _ **Mikaela Kaisha (12:22):** Yeah, boys are playing on court four_

 ** _Miya Atsumu (12:22):_** _K be right there_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (12:22):_** _Don't you dare_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (12:23):_** _The girls will never let me live it down if they see you_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (12:23):_** _Atsumu!_

After waiting an excruciating minute in which she was scanning the crowds furiously for the setter, her phone buzzed again and it nearly slipped out of her hand when she brought it up to her face to read the text.

 _ **Miya Atsumu (12:25):** ;)_

"Miss me, Princess?"

Mikaela jumped in her seat and whipped around, almost smacking Atsumu across the face. He had come up behind her and was now occupying the seat almost directly behind her, but he shifted down a row so that he was sitting next to her. "You scared me!" she snapped, trying to calm her heart down.

"You shoulda seen yourself," Atsumu said with a laugh, poking her in the rib cage. "Lookin' around for me. Didn't even look behind ya."

She shoved him, smirking. "Asshole."

He smirked, and his gaze fixed on the people sitting in front of her. "Ladies," Atsumu said with a grin, and Mikaela turned around and groaned when she noticed the majority of her team staring at her. "Congrats on the win."

"Oh, just watch the game," Mikaela said with a scowl, flexing her wrist. "Stop flirting with my team."

"Why, you jealous?"

"You wish," she grumbled, but she could feel the heat behind her cheeks. She'd missed banter like this, going back and forth with light comments. It made her think of Tsukishima and her heart squeezed in her chest. _God damn it, Kaisha. Get a hold of yourself._

The game continued on the court below them, but Atsumu's presence next to her was making her fidgety. He was close, close enough that their shoulders were almost touching. _I think I like him. I think._ She bit her lip. She needed to come clean about this to Atsumu- she couldn't play around with his feelings. But what if that turned him away? She _did_ like him: he was funny, he was good looking, and he was easy to talk to. It was just...

Karasuno won the first set, and Mikaela grabbed her bag. Right now, she was in her volleyball uniform and jacket, and she felt a bit self-conscious. She could only glare at her mutilated legs for so long. "I'm gonna change," she said quickly, glancing at Atsumu. "I'll be back in two."

"M'kay. I'll change too."

Mikaela hopped down the bleachers and took a quick turn, throwing herself into the closest bathroom. She was glad that she'd at least packed something decent to wear- she had black jeans and a belt, a black turtleneck, and a grey jean jacket. A bit more on the goth side, if she was honest, but it was a cute outfit and would work well for their date. Hopefully. Besides, the rips in her jeans weren't where her scars were (for the most part) so besides the occasional glint of metal through a few shin rips in the right pant leg, she could barely tell. _Nice._

She exhaled slowly. _Just hanging out. No pressure._

When she got back to the bleachers, she saw that Atsumu hadn't returned yet, which was fine by her. Someone whistled, and she turned to Kikuchi. "Someone's looking good!" she said loudly.

Mikaela was mortified. "Kikuchi-senpai," she moaned. "Please."

The team laughed, and Mikaela moved up to her seat behind the team, beet red. The second set had just started, so Mikaela shoved her bag beneath her seat and focused all of her attention on the court.

Atsumu pulled up about two minutes later, and Mikaela couldn't help it: her jaw dropped. She was surprised, honestly, that Atsumu had such a nice fashion sense; he was wearing a hoodie and track pants and nice shoes, and it looked like he'd combed his hair. He had his Inarizaki volleyball club jacket pulled on over it, and he definitely looked like he could be an idol.

He hopped up to their seats and smirked when he saw she was staring. "Can't keep your eyes off of me?" he teased.

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Just surprised that you're mature enough to dress yourself."

"Ha, ha. Very funny." He grinned. "You look great, by the way. Didn't know you had this kind of style."

She flushed from the compliment and grinned. "Well, this isn't what I usually wear," she admitted, holding out her arms and studying the sleeves of her jean jacket. "I'm definitely more into hoodies and sweats. But I just thought, you know..."

"Wanted to look nice for me?"

"Are you ever not full of yourself?" Mikaela grumbled, crossing her arms. "No. But, you know..."

Atsumu laughed, which made her relax. "I gotcha, Princess. I gotcha."

The second set didn't go nearly as well as the first; Karasuno lost, 26 - 24. Kageyama seemed to have lost some of his rhythm, but he was getting it back, and it showed in the third set. The other school took the lead at the start of the third set, but Karasuno pulled back and caught up at the twenty point mark, coming to win the set 27 - 25. Karasuno would be going onto the third round to face Inarizaki.

She turned to Atsumu. "I'm just going to go congratulate Tobio, and then we can go. Is that okay?"

"Sure. I'll come down with ya," he replied. "Wouldn't mind bothering Tobio-kun real quick."

"Uh- actually, could you stay?" Mikaela said quickly, biting her lip. Atsumu raised his eyebrows, surprised by the request, but she forged on. "Please? I'll be fast, I promise."

He seemed skeptical, but he nodded. "Yeah. I'll be here."

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him before she shouldered her backpack and trotted down the stairs and down towards the court. The boys had just finished their bow and were packing up, but Kageyama noticed her when she got down to the court and waved. "Great game!" she said when he got closer.

He smirked, then narrowed his eyes. "Date?"

She flushed. "Yes."

"If anything happens," Kageyama said firmly, sounding vaguely threatening, "call me. I'll kill him."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Atsumu says congrats, by the way. You're playing him next round."

His gaze darkened. "I'll kick his ass."

"You do that. I'm going on my date." She leaned forwards and hugged him over the advertisement sign that was separating the crowd from the court. "I'll be back for dinner. I'll catch you later?"

She didn't hear his response; she was looking past him to the court. She definitely shouldn't have been searching, but her eyes sought out Tsukishima anyways. When Mikaela looked at him, she saw that he'd been staring. To her surprise, he didn't look away, so she didn't either. He wasn't quite... _glaring_ at her, but there was definitely something frustrated in his expression.

Her heart started pounding in her chest. This was fine. She wasn't dating Tsukishima anymore. She wasn't-

"Kaisha?"

She jerked her eyes back to her cousin. "Huh?"

He sighed. "You zoned out." She shrugged sheepishly, and Kageyama frowned at her. "Be safe."

Mikaela assured him that she would be and headed away from the court, wandering back to where she'd left Atsumu. She refused to look back at Tsukishima, no matter how much she wanted to. She had to focus on Atsumu now. He was right where she'd left him, scrolling through his phone. When she got closer, he looked up and smirked. "All good?" he asked, and she nodded. "Is yer wrist still bothering you?"

"A bit," Mikaela replied honestly. "Not too bad though."

"Mm, that's good. Where to?"

"Where to?" she repeated, pushing her fingers back with her free hand to stretch out her wrist. "I thought you had somewhere in mind."

"Samu told me you let the girl choose."

She laughed. "Do you ever actually listen to Osamu?"

Atsumu grinned, and they started walking towards the exit together. "He has his moments," Atsumu admitted, jamming his hands into his jacket pockets. "Nah, it's fine, if you don't have a preference, then... bubble tea?"

"Bubble tea?" she repeated. "I've never tried it."

His eyes seemed to bug out of his head. "You've- okay, that's it. We're going. There's one five minutes from here by walk."

Mikaela rolled her eyes but followed him out of the stadium. She let him lead to way- well, it wasn't like she knew where she was going- and they walked down Tokyo's busy sidewalks together. It was nice outside, at least. Atsumu, to his credit, made sure to stick next to her, even though the streets were incredibly crowded. She appreciated it.

When they got to the bubble tea shop, Mikaela had absolutely no idea what to order, so Atsumu ordered something for her. He wouldn't let her pay, either, which was mildly annoying but a gesture she appreciated nonetheless.

"Stab it," Atsumu said with a smirk when they sat down with the cups. Mikaela had been staring at the straw and the lid. "Don't spill it."

"I'm going to," she said with a grin, "knowing me."

With a quick, clean strike, the straw punctured the top covering of the cup, and it didn't even spill anything. Mikaela grinned. "Not bad," Atsumu said, stabbing his own straw through the cover and sipping his drink. "Go on, try it."

Mikaela took a sip, and her eyes widened. "It's good!"

"What, you thought I'd poisoned ya?"

"Wouldn't put it past you."

Atsumu grinned and took another sip of his drink, sitting back in his chair. They were seated across from each other at a seat next to the window, with sunlight pouring through and reflecting off the table top. "So," Atsumu said, and Mikaela brought her eyes up to meet his, "you wanna tell me what's up with you?"

Mikaela knew exactly what he was talking about, and she _knew_ it was best to bring it up now before he found out somehow later, but it was hard to say. "Well, it's a bit complicated," she said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

He shrugged. "We got time."

"Well..." she trailed off, taking another sip from her drink to stall.

"Oi, Princess," Atsumu said, and Mikaela set her drink down, "if you're tryin' to spare my feelings, don't worry about it. Would much rather hear the truth than something half-assed. That's what the chicks like, right? Honesty?"

She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "You've got a great grasp on women, Atsumu."

"They all tell me that."

Mikaela laughed, but her smile faded. _Honesty, Kaisha._ "Look, you asked if I was still dating Tsukishima," she began, and he raised his eyebrows at her. "I didn't lie, I'm not. I'm single. But... Well, we broke up, like, two months ago? A little more than that, I think?" She swallowed nervously, unable to meet his eyes. She glared at the sunlight reflecting on the table. "I don't think I'm entirely over it," she forced out, and saying it out loud made it feel much more real. "I've been a mess about it, honestly. My captain convinced me to... to give this a shot. She thinks it might help.

"But I don't want it to be unfair to you," she continued, fighting the heat behind her eyes. "Because I do like you, but I don't know if I'm... what's the term- emotionally available? And you're a good guy- most of the time, at least- and it's not fair to you."

She refused to look up, unwilling to see what he was thinking, so she nearly flinched when he touched her hand. "Princess," Atsumu said lightly, his hand resting on top of hers. _"That's_ what you're worried about?"

"...Sort of?"

"What, didja think I'd drop you as soon as I found out you're still hung up on Four Eyes?"

Mikaela frowned, finally meeting his gaze. She didn't move her hand away. "Well, in all fairness, we barely know each other, Atsumu. There's plenty of crazy things about me that could drive you away, and that was just one of them."

"Look," he started, leaning towards her. Mikaela stiffened. "I get it. Gettin' over someone ain't easy. I'm cool with that."

Her eyebrows flew to the top of her forehead. "Actually?"

He shrugged. "Sure. We can keep it casual. Like, easy stuff. Nothing too deep. Ya know? Until you're ready for it, at least. If you want."

"Casual," Mikaela repeated, and he nodded. "Okay."

Atsumu's face split into a wide grin, which made something in the pit of her stomach flutter. "Really?" he said eagerly, squeezing her hand. "You're cool for that?"

His enthusiasm made her smile. "Yeah, but... Atsumu, we barely know each other."

"Alright, so we change that now." He let go of her hand, and Mikaela found herself feeling sort of cold. "Whatcha want to know? I'm an open book," Atsumu said, grabbing his bubble tea and taking another sip. "Parents are doctors, they work a lot. I play a lot of volleyball. Got a scholarship to Akita University for volleyball next year, so that's where I'm going. Osamu's my twin, but you knew that."

Mikaela relaxed. _That conversation went way better than I expected it to._ "Akita? That's awesome, congrats."

"Yup," Atsumu said proudly. "Gonna study science or somethin'. I'm thinking chem."

"Chemistry's cool," she agreed.

"You know whatcha want to do yet?"

Mikaela shook her head. "I'm going to go to university, because my mom would kill me if I didn't. She wants me to go to law school, but I'm thinking... maybe engineering or something."

His eyes widened. "Engineer? So you're a smartass?"

She scowled. "Better than being a dumbass." Mikaela tipped her chin down, feeling embarrassed. "Well, I'm thinking of maybe going into prosthetic design or something," she muttered sheepishly. "I know it's kind of dumb, but-"

"That ain't dumb," Atsumu said immediately, cutting her off. "That's cool, Princess."

She'd told people that she was thinking about engineering, but she hadn't mentioned that she was thinking about prosthetic design. It felt kind of stupid, in a way, which was weird- it shouldn't be stupid, not at all. "Thanks, Atsumu," the ex-manager murmured, taking another sip from her drink.

He shrugged indifferently. "So what's your family like?"

Mikaela paused, wondering how best to approach the subject. "It's a bit messy," she said, and Atsumu rolled a finger, telling her to continue. "Alright. No siblings. My parents were divorced- middle of Junior High."

"Were?" he asked, taking another sip. "They got back together?"

"No, my dad died," Mikaela corrected, taking a sip from her own bubble tea.

Atsumu paused, taking a minute to decide what to say, before taking a long sip from his bubble tea and saying quietly, "I'm sorry."

She shrugged. She missed him- more with every passing day- but it wasn't like Atsumu had anything to do with it. "I was never close with my mom. Lived with my dad when I went to Niiyama, this happened-" she kicked out her leg- "so I moved to Karasuno and moved in with my mom. Didn't really see him much, if at all. Mom's a lawyer, and he worked three part time jobs."

Atsumu stayed quiet, which was uncharacteristic of him, so she forged on. "He died, Mom didn't tell me he was in the hospital and instead just told me when he died, so I ran away for four months."

His eyes widened. "Actually? You ran away?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Moved back in a year ago. We've worked it out."

"Damn," Atsumu said, and Mikaela raised an eyebrow when she realized he sounded impressed. "Running away and living on your own for four months? That's hardcore. I knew you were tough, but that's in a whole league of its own."

Mikaela smiled softly. "Thanks, Atsumu."

"Hey, can I ask ya something?"

"Sure."

"Why'd you and Four Eyes break up?"

"Volleyball, actually," she said, her grip tightening on her bubble tea cup. "He said I was spending too much time with volleyball and was going to get myself hurt. He was right, in a way. I put a lot into volleyball and I didn't stay very close with a lot of my friends."

Atsumu scrunched up his nose. "Seriously?"

Mikaela raised an eyebrow. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"No, you're definitely the type to get that invested into anything," he said, and Mikaela swallowed the lump in her throat. "Not my place to comment on anything, though. You can talk about it if ya want."

"I'm good," she confirmed, her nails digging into her thigh as she forced a smile. "Casual, right?"

"Right you are, Princess," he said with a smirk. "Casual."

Their conversation went on from there. Mikaela was surprised at how easy it was to keep a conversation with Atsumu; he always found a way to link what they were talking about to something else. Every topic he brought up was light and easy to talk about- she never found herself stuck in a corner. They talked about volleyball a lot (he accused her of trying to steal some of his plays for Karasuno for tomorrow) but Mikaela was genuinely enjoying herself.

Plus, she hadn't thought about Tsukishima since Atsumu had asked why they broke up. It was nice.

The topic ended up tipping to social media, and when Atsumu said he'd gained around thirty thousand followers thanks to that video, Mikaela couldn't help but laugh. "I never expected that to work out so well for you," she joked.

Atsumu rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Princess. You're at, what, twenty five thousand?"

She shrugged. "Something like that."

"What, you're not interested?"

"Social media kind of lost my interest once people started recognizing me and asking for photos," Mikaela replied honestly, grinning sheepishly. "I see you're enjoying the full swing of it though."

"What can I say, the people love me."

"Like I said. You're an idol."

He grinned smugly. "So you think I'm attractive?"

"Well- I mean-" Heat flew to her face, and she crossed her arms and glared at the window so she wouldn't have to look at him. "Isn't it obvious?" Mikaela grumbled. "You know you're attractive."

"Yeah, but I wanted to hear you say it," Atsumu teased. "You're cute when you blush."

Mikaela scowled, glaring at him. "Stop embarrassing me."

"You're so red!"

"Because you're embarrassing me!" she protested, trying to calm the blush on her cheeks. "Asshole!"

"Wait, wait." Before Mikaela could tell him off, Atsumu dug into his coat pocket and pulled out his phone, and aimed it at her. "Smile!" Mikaela put on the most disgusted face she could, scrunching up her nose and shooting the camera her dirtiest look. Atsumu cackled to himself. "Fine, you asked for it."

Her eyes widened. "What're you doing?"

"You'll see in a minute." He grinned. "Isn't that what you told me before you reposted that video?"

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "You wouldn't dare."

"Already did."

"Atsumu! Why-" Her phone buzzed in pocket and she pulled it out, ignoring the shit-eating grin on Atsumu's face as she checked her notifications.

 _ **miyaatsumu** has tagged you in a post._

"Atsumu!"

"What?" he said innocently.

"You- You actually- I looked horrible!" Mikaela spluttered, opening her phone and desperately trying to get it to load. Atsumu's grin only widened. "I can't believe you! God, I know I look awful. You asshole! I can't believe you."

He laughed. "You haven't even seen it yet, you can't say you look bad."

"I _know_ I do. I wasn't even ready." The picture finally loaded, and Mikaela narrowed her eyes at the screen. She didn't look _awful,_ at least- if anything, she just looked fed up with the camera man (in this case, Atsumu, so of course she was). The sunlight pouring in from the window actually made the photo look pretty nice as a whole. Atsumu had only captioned it with a couple of smiley faces, but it already had five comments, and he'd only posted it thirty seconds ago.

"You're beautiful, you know that?"

Mikaela looked up at him and scowled, trying not to let the compliment dig into her heart. "Now you're just trying to butter me up, aren't you?"

"Nah, I'm serious," Atsumu said, propping his elbow up on the table and leaning his chin into his palm. "Beautiful. Did Four Eyes ever tell you that?"

Her expression immediately darkened, and Atsumu took it as a sign to zip his lips shut. Mikaela looked back down to the photo, ignoring the lingering feeling in the back of her brain. Had Tsukishima ever told her that? She would've remembered if he did. Had he actually never said that? Mikaela glanced down at some of the comments on the photo, trying to ignore it.

She felt warmth in her palm, and she looked up. He had taken her free hand and he was looking more serious than she'd ever seen him. "Sorry," Atsumu said, squeezing her hand. "Crossed a line. If you don't like it, I'll take it down."

An idea clicked in her head, and she looked back down at the photo. _He's got plenty of crazy fan girls..._ "It's fine," Mikaela said quickly, a grin slowly forming on her face. "I'll get you back."

"Oh?" His expression morphed into a smug smirk. "How'd you plan on doing that, Princess? I look good in every photo."

She snorted. "There's no way you do."

"It's a gift."

Mikaela pulled her hand from his and quickly typed in something on her phone under one of the comments. Atsumu raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn't look at him until she had finished typing and set her phone down. Mikaela grinned devilishly. "Check your comments."

Atsumu turned to his phone, and Mikaela cackled when she saw his jaw drop.

 _ **miyaatsumu:** *Photo Upload*_

 ** _miyaatsumu:_** _:) :)_

 _Comments:_

 _ **kinora345:** I would give anything to be your girlfriend_

 _Reply to **kinora345- mikaelakai13:** Not worth it_ _, he's not a great kisser_

"Mikaela!" Atsumu squawked, thrusting his phone screen at her face. Mikaela couldn't stop laughing; she leaned back in her seat and covered her face in her hands, trying to hide her laughter. "You can't- we've never even- _Mikaela! Stop laughing!"_

"You're cute when you're embarrassed," she mocked.

His face had already been red, but now it was close to scarlet. Mikaela's laughter only doubled when he tried to form a sentence and found he couldn't. Atsumu glared at his phone screen, then back at Mikaela, then back at his phone screen. "You realize what you've done," he eventually settled on, and his horrified expression finally died away in favour of his typical smug grin.

"Humiliated you in front of your many adoring fans?" Mikaela teased, crossing her arms. "Yeah."

"You've also outed yourself," he added. "As my girlfriend."

The term made her flush. "Casual," she reminded him.

"Casually dating," Atsumu corrected, rolling his eyes. "People know who we are. They're going to have fun with this."

"Let them," Mikaela said firmly. What was the worst that could happen? People were going to find out they were 'dating' (if you could call it that) regardless- she'd just gotten to make a bit of fun along the way. "I think people will have better things to focus on."

"You underestimate my fans."

Mikaela sighed, rolling her eyes. "I can deal with crazy fans. I've had to before."

His eyes widened as he remembered their conversation yesterday. "Your senpai, right?"

She nodded. "Accidentally borrowed his jacket once. Will _not_ be making that mistake again." Mikaela looked up at the clock, then winced. "I've spent _two and a half hours_ sitting here talking to you? Am I really that bored?"

"Oi, I was carrying that conversation the entire time, and you know it."

"Yeah, I've got to give you that one."

"How far's your hotel from here?"

Mikaela pulled out her phone and opened up her maps. "Not quite as luxurious as a hotel," she joked, her eyes fixed on her screen. "Thirty minute walk, or a five minute subway trip and five minute walk."

Atsumu smirked. "Subway it is."

"I can get back myself, you know."

"Nah, I'll walk you home." He stood up from his chair and grabbed her empty cup for her. "Besides, I'm in no rush to get back. I'm sure I'm never going to live down your comment, especially from my team. They're going to heckle me like crazy."

Mikaela rolled her eyes, fighting a smile. "Well, my team's no different."

"I'm sure. Shall we?"

They left the bubble tea shop and made their way to the subway. Mikaela bought their subway tickets- he was coming out this way just for her, she may as well- and when they got on, it was ridiculously crowded. It was the end of the work day, after all; people were heading home for the day, and the subways were a popular way of getting around for those who lived in the city.

They squeezed into one of the last subway cars, and Mikaela grabbed at one of the handles. The subway lurched and she stumbled; Atsumu's arm wrapped around her waist to steady her.

"I'm good," she squeaked out, regaining her balance and trying not to fall into the person in front of her.

"I know," he mused, smirking at her as his fingers curled around her hip. "We're a bit low on space here, Princess."

"I've noticed," Mikaela grumbled, but she didn't move. His arm stayed around her waist, a steady assurance that he was right beside her. She felt her cheeks redden as his grip tightened, and she leaned into him ever-so-slightly.

Atsumu only let go once the subway stopped and they hopped off. It was a short walk to their motel, and they made easy conversation on the way there. Mikaela chatted a bit about the team they'd be playing tomorrow, and Atsumu made some jibes at Karasuno that she deflected as soon as they came. It didn't matter if she liked him or not, her team came first; the boys included.

"This is me," Mikaela said when they arrived, jerking her chin at the motel.

His eyes widened. "Damn, Princess, you stay _here?_ This ain't great."

She shrugged. "It's cheap." She turned back to Atsumu and smiled, letting her shoulders relax. "I had a good time today," Mikaela said honestly, the wind blowing her ponytail over her shoulder. "Thank you. And thanks for letting this be so easy."

"Casual," Atsumu said with a smirk.

"Casual," she agreed.

Without warning, he leaned down and kissed her, his lips sealing firmly against hers. Mikaela barely had time to register what was happening and let her eyes close when he pulled back, smirking. "Now," he said with a cocky grin, "you can't say I'm bad."

To that, she had no words. She just shrugged helplessly, her face heating up.

"I'll see ya tomorrow, Princess. Rest up."

"You too," Mikaela managed. He waved, his arrogant smirk only growing when he saw how red she was, before he finally turned around and started walking back in the direction of the subway station. Mikaela watched him for a second before she retreated back to the safety of the motel.

He wasn't Tsukishima. Not at all. This was different. Atsumu was bolder, and he was much more laid back about... well, almost everything. But she shouldn't compare him to Tsukishima.

 _I can do this,_ Mikaela thought to herself, lightly tapping her lips with her fingers. _I can do this._

It was different, sure, but maybe that was a good thing.

* * *

Round three did not go as planned.

Obviously, she got harassed by her team when she got back, but Mikaela managed to convince Sudou that their game tomorrow- they were playing a seeded team, it was going to be a tough game- was more important than dissecting every single detail of her date. Sudou agreed, and they migrated back to talking about volleyball, but that still didn't stop Kikuchi and Taki from hounding her about it later.

Kuyumazi Girls' Academy was one of the favorites to win the tournament, and their strength came from their blocking- they reminded Mikaela way too much of Kamomedai, who Karasuno had lost to last year.

Tough blocking meant that a lot of stress fell on the hitters and the setter, and Mikaela was _not_ having a good day. Normally, being able to use both hands gave her an advantage against blocks: she had a wider range of holes in the block that she could pick out, and it helped her vary her hitting point. But she had been trying to stick to her right hand, and when it became painfully obvious that she couldn't afford that luxury, she started hitting with her left.

They took the first set, 25 - 23, but dropped the second set, 25 - 22. Mikaela's wrist felt like it was screaming at her. Kikuchi must've noticed her rolling it repeatedly, because she asked her about it. "You good, Mikaela?"

"Yep," she replied, and when Kikuchi's eyes fell to her wrist, she added, "just warming up the hitting arm."

"We're going to need it," Sudou said, clapping Mikaela's shoulder. "We need you running at your best if we're going to win this. They're having trouble containing you, and we need to exploit that."

"Got it," Mikaela said, but her screaming headache argued otherwise.

She wondered how the boys were doing. Their game had started at about the same time, which had pissed her off- that was a game she wanted to see. For now, she had to focus on their game.

And if her _god damn_ wrist felt like it was _breaking-_

Mikaela exhaled slowly, calming herself down. _Your team needs you._

Set three started off well. Karasuno implemented some of their techniques from yesterday: Hiba started trying more quick attacks, Taki pulled off a back attack, Sudou started setting more. It worked for a bit, but Kuyumazi adjusted quickly. Their blocking was ridiculously good; Mikaela had gotten shut down more often than she wanted to admit.

Kikuchi tooled another block, putting them up 14 - 13. The game was much too close for her liking. "Your serve, Mikaela," Sudou said, passing her the ball.

"Thanks." Mikaela made her way to the back line and counted her steps backwards, taking a deep breath. _I can do this. Eleven more points._ She tossed the ball up as soon as the whistle blew and ran forwards, jumping and striking the ball with her right hand. The ball soared like a missile and kissed the back corner of the court. "Yes!"

"Ace!" Taki shrieked from the side.

Mikaela let herself be huddled in with her teammates as they cheered, then got herself back into her position. Sweat was making her hair stick to the back of her neck, and she brushed it off. Her next serve was received, and the Kuyumazi girls used a synchronized attack and scored. Karasuno managed to keep the lead up until the twenty one point mark, where the other team finally managed to close in and tie it.

"Here!" Mikaela called, jumping up towards the net. Aoki sent the ball her way, and Mikaela was going to hit it when hands suddenly flew up in front of her. _God, they're fast._ Instinctively, she whipped out her left arm and nailed a sharp cross court shot with her left hand, getting them the point.

"Nice hit," Sudou said, high-fiving her.

She smiled weakly. Her wrist _killed._ 22 - 21 for Karasuno.

Mikaela was up to serve again. The next point was a block point for Kuyumazi, and so was the point after that. Mikaela grimaced; they were one point ahead, and two block points in a row kind of hurt. Kuyumazi served and Mikaela received, putting the ball up in a pretty arc. Aoki sent the ball towards Sudou in a quick attack, but the blockers were up too fast. Sudou's spike hit the blockers' arms and was deflected out, getting Karasuno the point and tying the game up again.

Sudou was up to serve, and Mikaela leaned onto the balls of her feet, glancing sideways at Hiba. They needed two points in a row. Not unfeasible. They could do this. Kuyumazi received and set up a quick attack, but Taki was already there. She jumped, and the spiked ball hit her hands and went flying to the back of the court.

Mikaela twisted and dove, hitting the ball up and back towards the center of the court. She shoved herself up and back into position, her eyes watching frantically for the ball. Her heart plummeted in her chest when she saw Kikuchi get roofed- she was too far away to save it. Kuyumazi was at match point.

"Get it up, ladies," Sudou called as she switched out with the libero. "Nice and high!"

The Kuyumazi girl served, and it went straight to her. Mikaela leaned to the left, getting herself under the ball and sending it up in a high arc. "Here!" she yelled, pushing off the ground with her good leg and dashing forwards.

Aoki sent it her way, and Mikaela pulled her arm back, watching the blockers fall down in front of her. They'd jumped too soon.

At least, that was what she thought. One of their girls- at a ridiculous height of six and a half feet tall- jumped a second time, and Mikaela found herself hitting the ball straight into the girl's arms. The ball went straight down; their libero lunged, but didn't quite make it in time.

25 - 23 for Kuyumazi. They'd lost.

It was over.

She'd process it later- for now, her wrist hurt like a _bitch,_ and she needed to get it seen. They shook hands and bowed, and Mikaela refused to allow herself to comprehend the situation. Even when Sudou made a quick speech, saying "keep your heads high, that was a good game" and adding other little things that probably would've made her well up if she was listening properly. Most of the girls were in tears; Sudou was holding it back (and doing a good job of it) but Kikuchi was visibly tearing up.

"The boys are still playing," their vice captain added as they made their way off the court. "Let's go support them for the end of their game. Heads up, girls."

"You okay, Mikaela?" Sudou asked, frowning at her.

She nodded, hiding a grimace. "Yeah. I'll be back."

Her captain narrowed her eyes at her but nodded. "Alright. You know where to find us. Don't take too long or we'll come looking for you."

Mikaela forced a smile and removed herself from the group, heading in the relative direction of the infirmary station that they'd set up. Her team probably thought she was headed to the bathroom, maybe to cry and get her feelings out. Honestly? She was starting to process the information and was surprised that no tears were coming to her eyes. They had lost, but Mikaela couldn't bring herself to cry. They'd done their best against a highly skilled team, and they'd come up short. Nothing to cry about. There was always next year.

She sighed to herself. _Next year._

When she finally found the area they'd set up for the injured, there was only one other player there- a boy that was getting his ankle taped. One of the nurses noticed her and she smiled. "What can I do for you, hon?"

"Well, uh," Mikaela said, glancing at her wrist and swallowing when she noticed that it was a bit more swollen than when she'd last checked. "I think I sprained my wrist."

"Let's see." The nurse beckoned for her to hold out her wrist, and she did. The nurse inhaled sharply. "I'll say! You see how bruised this is? So much swelling."

She rubbed the back of her head with her free hand. "Yeah, it happened two days ago, I think."

This led to the nurse plopping her down on one of their cushioned stretchers that they'd put out, and she started poking Mikaela's wrist at various spots to see how much it hurt her. Mikaela was surprised by how much more painful it was- she'd probably been tuning it out for most of the game. She sighed in relief when the nurse told her that it wasn't broken, but definitely sprained. She gave her ice to put on her wrist.

"You keep that there," she instructed. "As soon as some of that swelling goes down, I'll wrap it."

"Thank you," Mikaela said quietly, holding the ice down.

The nurse shifted away to check on the boy in the tent, who had his eyes fixed on her legs. Mikaela scowled to herself and pulled her jacket off of her shoulders, letting it settle over her legs to cover them. Embarrassed, the boy turned away.

 _I wonder who won,_ she thought to herself, thinking of the Karasuno-Inarizaki game. She turned her wrist over in her lap and winced when she looked at it- the ice had made it more red than it was before, and it was definitely looking purplish in some spots. _Probably should've gotten this checked out after our first game._ Mikaela sighed to herself, flexing it gently before she winced again. _Maybe don't do that._

Come to think of it, if she was going to be stuck here for a bit, she ought to tell Sudou so they wouldn't come looking for her. Mikaela glanced down at the ground, where she'd set her bag. _Ugh, so far._

"Mikaela?"

She jerked her head up and her eyes widened in surprise. "Atsumu? What are you doing h-"

"What'd you do?" he demanded, sidestepping one of the nurses and moving towards her. He leaned down towards her and took her injured wrist in his hand, frowning at it. He looked up at her. "I thought you said it was fine!"

"It was," she protested. "Did you win?"

"I'm not important right now!" the setter snapped, dodging her question. "Did it get worse? Did you dive again?"

"I'm fine," Mikaela snapped back, trying to calm herself down. Her health was irrelevant right now- she needed to know who was moving on. "Did you win?"

Atsumu exhaled slowly, clearly realizing that her mind was elsewhere. "Yeah. We did."

"Oh," Mikaela said, her voice strangled in her throat. Karasuno had lost. To _Inarizaki._ Kageyama must've been frustrated. Same with Tsukishima, and- oh, Hinata _,_ was he okay? Was Yamaguchi? Oh, god, all the third years... "Was it a good game?" she managed.

"Yeah. Full sets, all went into extra points."

"Well..." she sighed, trying to think of what she could do. "Congrats," Mikaela said hesitantly, finally meeting his eyes.

Atsumu pursed his lips but didn't comment on it. "Your team told me you lost."

"Yeah, we did." Mikaela frowned at him. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I didn't," he confessed, shrugging. Both of his hands were still holding her wrist, but as he talked, one of them slipped down to take her hand. "We were celebratin', and I saw your team watching, so naturally I was lookin' for ya. Couldn't see ya, so I asked your captain and she said you had left, so either you were in a bathroom or, if your wrist was hurt worse, you'd be here."

She shrugged, smirking. "Nice detective work there."

Atsumu grinned. "Well, when there's a pretty girl involved-"

"Oh, shut up."

"So didja injure it again? What happened?"

Mikaela lowered her eyes. "Nothing really. Just used it a lot in the game and it started getting bad. And, before you say it, I know it was stupid. We lost anyways. Wasn't worth it."

"Would've taken you out of commission for your next game, anyways." Atsumu let go of her hand and crossed his arms. "Why didn't you tell your captain you were here?"

"Didn't want anyone to worry. I'll be fine."

"Not exactly," the nurse interrupted, sliding up next to Atsumu. "Excuse me, sir." The setter moved out of the way so that the nurse could examine her wrist again, and Mikaela watched her pinch her lips into a line. "Are you left-handed?" the nurse asked, pulling a tensor bandage out of her her pocket.

Mikaela made eye contact with Atsumu and they both smirked. "Not really," she said.

"Alright. Good. I want you to avoid using this hand as much as you can, so no more volleyball. Even if you are a righty." Mikaela bit her tongue, unwilling to mention that there was going to be no volleyball for her anyways now that they had lost. The nurse bound her wrist tightly and Mikaela winced as she pressed down to hold the bandage in place. She clipped the brace together and let go. "That should be fine for now," she said with a sigh. "Keep ice on it when you can, okay? You're lucky it's not broken."

She nodded. "Thank you."

"Anytime, dear. Stop by if you need anything else."

Atsumu picked up her bag from the floor, and before Mikaela could protest, swung it over his shoulder. "I can carry my own bag," she said with a scowl, taking her jacket off of her legs and sliding her arms through the sleeves.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "I know."

"So..." Mikaela trailed off when she realized he wasn't going to hand over. "Fine. At least let me grab my phone." Atsumu leaned over, holding her bag closer to her, and she unzipped one of the pouches and fished out her phone. There was a text from Sudou, letting her know that Atsumu was looking for her, so Mikaela sent her a quick text back saying that he found her. "Thanks," she muttered, glancing up at the setter.

He grinned. "What, was that a thank you I just heard?"

"No. Let's go."

"Fine, fine. Where to?"

"Well, I'm going to go to wherever my team is," Mikaela said as they exited the infirmary. "I've got to find Tobio and make sure he's all good. You need to get to your team- you've got another game today."

He nodded. "You'll stick around and watch it?" he asked hopefully.

It was sort of endearing, seeing him hopeful that she'd watch his game. "Of course," she said, which made Atsumu's grin widen. "Who're you playing? I can look up stuff if you want."

"Haizaki Academy," he replied, smirking. "You gonna put those manager skills to good use? For an enemy team?"

Mikaela scowled, weaving around someone who was standing in the middle of the path. "Well, Karasuno's out now," she said, the words heavy in her throat, "and it's your last year. I want you to do as well as possible, obviously. Right?" She looked up at him and sighed. "I'm sorry, I feel like I'm not as happy for you as I should be."

Atsumu shrugged. "Nah, I get it. This was your team last year. It makes sense."

Mikaela sighed. "Yeah. Sorry. I _am_ happy for you."

"Thanks, Princess."

She hummed in response, then the name clicked in her brain and she straightened up. "Wait- did you say Haizaki Academy?" When Atsumu confirmed that he did, Mikaela grabbed at her bag that was on his shoulder and started rifling through it, hunting for her old notebook. "I keep my notebooks after I go through them, but I brought this one because this was my notebook from the training camp from last year," she explained quickly as she found the book and zipped her bag shut. "Haizaki Academy. Aguraki Rei is from that school."

"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Atsumu asked, bemused.

"I'm pretty sure that's the guy who took the video of us last year!" Mikaela said with a laugh, and his eyes widened in surprise. "I had it narrowed down to two guys in terms of video angles and distance, but I didn't know which one. I got into both of their social media accounts, and Aguraki was the one who posted it."

Atsumu shook his head with a laugh. "You really are a super stalker."

"Well, this stalker's saving your team right now," she said triumphantly, finding her page with her notes on Aguraki and handing it to him. "Here. Two full pages on this idiot. Kick his ass for me, will you?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said with another shake of his head. His eyes fixed on something behind her. "Ah. Found Karasuno."

Mikaela turned around and saw her team, standing in a cluster and organizing bags. They looked like they were getting ready to leave. A few of the boys were there too, so they must've been done their post-game wrap up. "Alright," Mikaela said, turning back to Atsumu. She leaned towards him and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "Text me what court you're on."

"I will," he said, and Mikaela was pleased to note that he was blushing. "I'll catch you later, Princess."

She took her bag from him and waved, then turned around to head back to her team. She tucked her left wrist as far as she could into her jacket sleeve so that (hopefully) no one would notice the bandage. "Hey, guys," Mikaela said quickly as she made it to the group.

"Where were you?" Kikuchi asked, her eyes scanning behind her. "With Miya?"

"I wasn't originally," she said quickly. "He ended up finding me."

"So you know the boys lost?"

Mikaela nodded. "Have you seen Kageyama?"

She shook her head. "No, not since the game. Where'd you go, by the way? Kageyama asked about you."

"I'm right here."

They both turned. Kageyama was standing behind them, his hands tucked into the pockets of his Karasuno jacket. His face was carefully neutral, but there was something behind his eyes that Mikaela didn't recognize. "Tobio," Mikaela said quickly, her eyes scanning her surroundings. Most of the guys were back now- her eyes landed on Tsukishima for a second too long and she forced herself to look back at her cousin. "How was the game?"

"We lost," he said bluntly. "You would've known that if you were here."

Mikaela winced- so he _was_ pissed that she'd missed the end. "We lost too," she said. "Sorry I missed it, but I was-"

"With Atsumu?" he interrupted.

"Well, not intentionally, but-"

"God, Kaisha. What the hell? I thought-"

She'd had enough. She wasn't about to let him ramble on any further and plague her team with the wrong ideas. "Tobio!" Mikaela snapped sharply, tugging her wrist out of her sleeve. "I almost broke my wrist! Give me a break!"

It was almost comical how fast Kageyama's face switched from frustration to shock to apologetic to concerned. "Actually?" he said, grabbing her wrist. She winced and nearly tugged away, but stopped herself when she realized that would've hurt more. "How'd this happen?" Kageyama demanded, glaring at her. "Why didn't anyone on your team know?"

"Ow!" Mikaela couldn't help but cry out, and Kageyama immediately dropped her wrist. "Take it easy, Tobio! They didn't know!"

"Mikaela? You sprained your wrist?" Kikuchi asked worriedly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She almost flinched away, but she forced herself to relax. She had a lot of eyes on her now, both from her team and the boys' team. "The first game against Fozinodachi. That diving save at the end, where I had to roll over Hiba. I landed bad on my wrist," she explained, frowning at her cousin. "I didn't say anything because I thought it'd be fine- I iced it that night, you all saw me- but it started getting worse yesterday, and today it was too painful to ignore. So I went to the nurse right after the game."

"You should've gone immediately," Sudou scolded.

Mikaela shrugged. "Doesn't matter now. We're out anyways." She turned back to Kageyama and frowned. "Atsumu came by the infirmary. He didn't know I was there, he just guessed. That's why I was with him. I'm sorry I missed the end of the game."

"It's fine," Kageyama said quickly, pulling her in for a hug. "Sorry. Jumped to conclusions."

"I noticed," she grumbled into his chest before she pulled back. "I'm going to hang around for a bit, actually. Watch a few games."

She knew he'd see right through her, knowing that she wanted to watch Atsumu's game, but he did something she hadn't expected. "Alright. I'll stay too, then." Mikaela raised her eyebrows at him, and he shrugged. "Good research, right?"

"Sure," she said. She glanced at Sudou. "That's fine, right?"

Her captain nodded. "Yeah. Be back for dinner."

"We will," Kageyama assured her, shooting Mikaela a look that indicated he wasn't letting her out of his sight.

They helped Karasuno put all the bags together. Mikaela helped Yachi finish up her score sheets, tallying all the numbers where she could, which gave her a chance to read off some of the stats of the game. She helped Ukai with the larger bags, but there was only so much she could do before he brushed her off, saying that he didn't want her to strain her wrist.

Sudou patted her on the back. "Thanks for the help. Could you grab that last bag?"

"Sure," she replied, heading to the back wall and reaching for the bag with her good hand.

Someone else reached for the bag at the same time, and Mikaela pulled back in surprise. She looked up and froze- Tsukishima. He raised an eyebrow at her and grabbed the bag from the ground.

He had just turned around when the words bubbled out of her chest. "That's it?" she said incredulously, and he turned back to her. Mikaela laughed weakly, holding up her wrist. "No 'I told you so'? You know I deserve it."

Tsukishima paused, almost like he was weighing his options. To Mikaela's surprise, he smirked. "You already know how dumb you've been. I don't think you need me to say it again."

With that said, he turned around and walked to Ukai.

Mikaela stood there, dumbfounded, watching him walk away. Finally, she smiled softly. Maybe there was a chance they could be friends after all.

The idea of that made her heart a lot happier than it should've.

* * *

 **Mikaela's really out here dating Atsumu and I have to pretend that it's for plot and not because I'm desperately in love with Atsumu aye-**

 **(I swear it's plot I promise I'm joking)**

 **(Kind of)**

 **For those missing Tsukishima, I've got a chapter planned that's entirely in his point of view- lookin' like chapter 61. Hold out for a little longer my friends ;)**

 **luvielle:** Aaaaaah you're so welcome! I love doing my part to brighten people's days. Oh, there's definitely going to be a lot of reunions in her third year at nationals, and I'm really excited to write those. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **SoccerSarah01:** Oh my goodness thank you! Don't worry nothing awful is gonna happen (probably) so please don't worry about tears! Unless I have any ideas for something mean... Yep, that wrist seemed minor at first but you called it, wrist issues are dangerous and they do indeed suck. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Thundqh:** *noises of happy crying* Thank you so much for your review! T^T

 **yangri:** Bruh SLEEP you're always reviewing at some ungodly hour of the morning XD Oh, you don't understand how hard it was for me to try and write ANYTHING Tsukishima/Mikaela related after writing all this fluffy crap with Atsumu. This boy is so addicting. Yuka's so fun to write 'cause I loooooove writing nasty characters XD I'm tempted to throw her in for much more than I need to. Thank you so much for your kind words and review! :D

 **Via-lee863:** You understand my struggles XD It's a difficult thing to write, especially since I love them both... Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **StarlightNALU:** If you're confused then that means I'm doing my job right XD You're actually really good at describing both of their relationships and predicting the future here XD Your in-depth descriptions are actually spot on. You're so right, Tsukishima and Mikaela have a lot of history. In some cases, history can be ignored, but it's not something Mikaela can easily forget- and not something she wants to pretend didn't happen. I absolutely love your analysis (I reread this like a dozen times) and I really appreciate how invested you are! Thank you so much for all of the detail in your lovely review! :D

 **Chancellor S:** Ah, I can guarantee you that you're not alone XD He's such a addicting character... Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **edvy8:** By popular demand (and an internal drive to make sure Tsukishima's side is heard) I've got a Tsukishima-centered chapter coming up. The timing's tricky, because it's mostly a collection of little bits over their second year and third, so I think it's gonna be chapter 61. You're so kind, thank you so much for your nice words and your lovely review! :D

 **Mudblood:** You wouldn't be the first XD

 **ice devil cat demon:** SO MANY PEOPLE LOVE THE ATSUMU THING I'M SURPRISED I thought people were gonna hate it XD Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying this, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **ScarletSea:** I love him too! He's such a fun character, I'm glad I could incorporate him into the story like this. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** Thank you! Yeah, long distance is rough (I have a bit of experience in that area) so we'll have to wait and see how that plays out ;) You are not alone in your conflicting feelings between Tsukishima and Atsumu! I guarantee it XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Guest ("Honestly I don't get it..."):** Not at all! You're totally entitled to your own opinion, and I appreciate how you're open to saying it! Mikaela is in no way, shape, or form over Tsukishima. You're right- they love each other, and those feelings can't be ignored. But right now, from Mikaela's point of view, he wants nothing to do with her. She's got no choice but to move on. It's hard, but it's better than pining for someone who doesn't want her. Enter Atsumu- he likes her, he's fun, and she's looking to get over someone. Hopefully this chapter cleared it up a bit more, but feel free to let me know what you think! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Jemmyjem:** You literally sound like me XD For the longest time after writing these chapters, I was incapable of writing Tsukishima and Mikaela and I had to convince myself that this was MY STORY and I needed to be stronger XD Yeah she's like 16 right now! They feel so much older. Your theory is pretty reasonable, I guess you'll have to see how it all plays out ;) Thank you so much for your kind words and your reviews! :)

 **Sayori1412:** You'll have to wait and see ;) You will definitely see jealous Tsukishima- I have a Tsukishima-centered chapter coming up at some point, just not right away. Thank you so much for your long review, you're so kind! :D

 **somberset:** There's always been a small part of me that's shipped them since their first interaction and I'm glad I can finally exploit that XD YOU COUNT THE DAYS WTF THAT'S SO CUTE THANK YOU SO MUCH! Two weeks wait, max ;) Atsumu is a god amongst men and I'm mildly in love with him which made some upcoming chapters really hard to write oops XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Frenchie Is French:** I'm torn, and I'm the writer- I don't think that's a good thing XD This chapter probably didn't help the dilemma much but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Reading1dragon:** I remember responding to your reviews for ESCAPE! Hi! It's so good to see you again! :D I'm so sorry you have to wait, but at least this one's updating? I know a lot of fanfics that have been abandoned which always hurts my soul. Tsukishima's not doing too hot, but you'll see more on that later ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **SparklySuu:** I've seen a few of my friends pick their future schools and careers based off what their friends are doing and it hurts to watch. You don't realize how important it is to pick for yourself until you're there, and you're totally right- your future after high school is so so important and no boy should stand in the way of that. Oh thank GOD thank you so much, I've been so worried I haven't managed to keep Atsumu in character. He's hard to write at times and that makes me so happy, thank you so much. Thank you for your kind words and your review! :D

 **Free Range Chicken:** Aha I feel like the Atsumu/Mikaela shippers have started to rise up and I'm not complaining XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Averi-nova:** Happy birthday! I'm so glad I could bring you this on your special day :) I'm always so torn up between Bokuto and Akaashi because it feels like they should be in the same year, I totally agree. I hope you like the Atsumu moments then ;) Yep, that third round was intense and I've got a tidbit of that I'm going to bring up in a later chapter! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **ElliElver:** Aaah that makes me so happy thank you! Don't thank me XD Bruh I know, sometimes I'm writing his character and it makes me hate him like why are you like this XD Thanks for calling Tsukishima a chicken bitch, it made me laugh- and thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Zoreux:** Absolutely! Tsukishima's a tough cookie- the dumbass doesn't enjoy talking about his feelings and we all know he's hurting, I don't have to write a Tsukishima POV for you guys to know that XD Best of luck studying and thank you for your review! :D

 **jily shiper:** This chapter. This is the one that makes it hard to write TsukiMika XD Bruh I know I saw the chicken bitch comment and I choked, my reviewers are literally the best XD Thank you for your review, I'll PM you soon! ;)

 **Guest ("Damn the confusion..."):** Good! It feels like there's so many people with Atsumu and not a lot with Tsukishima so it's good to see some still keeping the faith XD Don't worry! We aren't done with Tsukishima! ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Siera-Knightwalker:** You're right, she's got a bit too much history with Tsukishima for that ship to go down so easily... Oh you're totally right, not a lot of people caught the wrist thing but I'm glad some did! Yes, she told Atsumu she wasn't over him, which was definitely the best course of action. The last thing you want to do is date someone and find out three months in that they're not over their ex XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Saki:** Atsumu IS an idiot, what are you talking about XD I don't know why but Atsumu seems like the type to use pet names, so Princess was born XD I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **MoonlightFox16:** Aww thank you so much! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Monxu Aki:** Honestly? Mikaela and Tsukishima _had_ to fight at some point, they're both bull-headed and prideful people. There's some things that you can't understand until after something dramatic like a break up happens. I hope you liked this chapter! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Swaggishima:** I'm glad you like the way this is going! I know you've been a TsukiMika shipper from the start so I'm glad you're taking this in stride XD Wow! So many view on Wattpad! Thank you so much for all you're doing, and thank you so much for your review! Love ya! :D

 **cannotthinkofone:** Aw thank you so much! Yes, we shall capitalize The Breakup because of its historical significance. XD You're so amazing, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Guest ("Hdkakcbdkaks..."):** YOUR REVIEW IS SO LONG THANK YOU SO MUCH! Never apologize, I LOVE reading long reviews! :D Feel free to quote your favorite phrases, I love reading people's favourite lines! I'm so glad you're fallen in love with Mikaela, it's been my goal since chapter one to make people love her as much as I do, and now it feels like you all love her more. I've got plenty of personal drama planned, but I still fully intend to make volleyball a huge part of every chapter! Volleyball is her life, after all. I'm so glad you loved the characters (we have veeeery similar anime crushes XD) and I'm so happy you reviewed. It was so in-depth and I loved reading it. Thank you SO MUCH for your kind words and your review! :D

 **Guest ("ok don't get me wrong..."):** You are not alone in your sentiments XD I've been very torn lately because I thought I knew how I wanted the story to end and Atsumu's character makes it so hard sometimes XD I'm so glad you're enjoying this, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Guest ("I can't stop reading..."):** You're so sweet oh my T^T Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **nikkali44:** Aw, I'm so happy you like it! The first fanfic you read in a fandom can be a make-or-break for a reader, so I'm so glad that you like this one. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **PurpleCuddleBug:** I'm so flattered, you moved past the point in the anime just so you could read this?! I'm honored T^T Thank you so much, I'm so glad you thought it was worth it! The lines you pointed out made me laugh, it makes me want to reread my own story again. Thank you so much for your kind words and your awesome review! :)

 **secretlifeofsam:** Absolutely, there was no way I was going to let all their chemistry go to waste. They're both too much fun to write- they basically write themselves. I'm very excited to bring you all jealous Tsukishima in a few chapter ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **slicksakura123:** Aw you're so sweet, thank you so much T^T Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Daffodil:** Don't worry, you're among the many conflicted people that keep telling me "okay I promise I love Tsukishima but now I love Atsumu!" XD I'm with Tsukishima til the end of the line, so you'll just have to wait and see how this goes ;) If you don't normally write reviews, thank you so much! I'm flattered :) Thank you so much for your compliments and your lovely review! :D

 **Feathershade:** Not gonna lie, I totally forgot about the Kinomi's-phone-number scene XD No, I haven't gone back to add anything in. I did in the very first chapter to accommodate for some new revelations in the manga, but that's it. Thanks for your reviews! :)

 **caiuscassiuss:** YOU'RE A PSYCHIC! XD Yep, Atsumu and Mikaela had so much chemistry that it's be a shame not to build on that! I've been trying to figure out how to work Kuroo in here, but I think I've got a plan for that. As for Oikawa, he's in Brazil right now, so not sure how well that will work XD Thank you so much for your amazing review! :D

 **Shuminaaa:** Ahhh thank you so much! This was the first one you read in this fandom?! I'm honored! Don't worry, you'll definitely get a Tsukishima POV coming up! I'm so happy that you're so invested in this and I'm so happy you've enjoyed it so much. Thank you so much for your lovely review! :)

 **Guest ("Good story"):** Thank you!

 **Also, friendly PSA: I don't mind people drawing inspiration from Mikaela and this story, but there's a fine line between 'inspired by' and 'copying'. If you do choose to write your own fanfic and want to take some ideas from this story, spin them and make them your own! Please don't blatantly copy what I've worked so hard to write on. That includes my dialogue and ideas.**

 **Thank you all for all of your love! I hope to hear from you! :)**


	58. The Problems With Being Captain

**Thank you so much to Anne Nonimus, StarlightNALU, SoccerSarah01, ScarletSea, Averi-nova, Padgent, haikyuurarepairs, milkywayheartcupcake, Sayori1412, ElliElver, somberset, yangri, luvielle, Siera-Knightwalker, Vylzana, Daffodil, Guest, Guest, ohmygawdpls, Swaggishimsa, channingayle02, PureChaos27, Inola, bbymojo, Saki, cannotthinkofone, Feathershade, MeganeAlpaca, ice devil cat demon, UltimateEchoEcho217, demmmooo, celery21, larson, HaremFuck250, Aura1259, Soobin0121, Piffthemagicdragon21, SpiritlessSoul, Sanadienne, Hamelin x Tia, kaveofglories, midnightabyss23, grassypandas, lunemi, CoffeeCrazyChipmunk, SatanicApple, narinu1, horses717, KrystalCookies5, Half Winged Angel in Despair, Blackraven777, Noodles68, and Walarisse for your support!**

 **(Also, thank you for all of your condolences. :) )**

 **Side note- how the hell did I get over 700 reviews?! Over 400 reviews in the span of thirteen chapters?! _Thirteen?!_ And two hundred new followers in _nine chapters?!_** **I can't believe you guys, thank you so much.**

* * *

"Why the hell are there so many of them?" Mikaela scowled to Hiba from the back of the gym.

Hiba smiled wryly. "You can't blame anyone except yourself, Mikaela."

"Yeah, but..." She shook her head desperately and looked at the large group of girls stretching on the court. Taki was leading the stretching group enthusiastically, bending forwards to reach for her toes. "Twenty two girls?" Mikaela hissed under her breath. "Not including us. We need to pick ten. How the hell are we supposed to pick ten."

"Not we," Hiba said firmly. "I'll assist and advise, but it's your call."

Mikaela groaned, burying her head in her hands. "You're too good of a vice captain."

"Thanks."

"Well, we..." she exhaled. "We need a setter for sure. Aoki graduated. And we need a libero, but Shoko mentioned she was interested. But there's..." Mikaela sighed. "Alright, let's just get this started. You good to run the first drill so I can watch?"

"Sure, but only if you jump in for the second one," Hiba said.

"Okay. Sounds good." Mikaela cupped her hands around her mouth and called, "alright! Bring it in!"

Twenty two girls scrambled up from the ground and towards them, all appearing to be enthusiastic and ready to go. Mikaela swallowed nervously- she'd been excited to captain until she realized she'd have to make cuts. The idea of it made her anxiety spike, but she knew it had to be done. Besides, she had Hiba with her. It'd be fine. She'd make good choices. Right?

 _Show time._ Mikaela grinned and waved. "Hey, girls. Thanks for coming! I'm Mikaela Kaisha, wing spiker, and I'll be your captain this year."

"Hiba Mozoni," Hiba added, sliding up next to Mikaela. "Wing spiker, vice captain. Nice to meet you all."

"So, if you haven't noticed, there's a lot of you," she said with a grin, trying to add some humor to the dreadful decision she'd have to make. "We're going to hold three tryouts, and we're going to pick a team of twelve. Which means that only half of us are still going to be around."

There was a nervous titter from the group. "That's the unfortunate truth of it," Mikaela said, glancing at Hiba. Her vice captain nodded at her to continue. "So just relax and give it your all. Last year, the Karasuno girls made it to the Spring Tournament for the first time in recorded history." Remembering nationals last year made her heart ache, but Mikaela continued. "We made it to the top sixteen in Japan. This year? We're aiming for number one. And we're looking for girls that are going to take us there."

She grinned. "Alright. Let's get started."

* * *

"Tadashi, this is the _worst,"_ Mikaela complained, holding out a list with several scratched out names. "I have to cut this down by _half!"_

"Join the club," Yamaguchi muttered, showing her his own list. "Coach asked me to help cut this down and I have no idea. I feel so bad!" He groaned, raking a hand through his hair. "How am I supposed to cut any of these people off the team?"

Mikaela sighed, then perked up. "I have an idea."

"Please," her best friend said desperately. "Anything."

"Pick a number, one to twenty two."

Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow in confusion, then said, "Fourteen?"

Mikaela scanned down the list for number fourteen, then frowned. "No, I like her. We can't cut her. Do another one."

"Kaisha, we can't do it like that!"

"You got a better option?"

Silence.

"...Give me a number."

(Ukai came by later to them picking paper slips out of a hat with random numbers on them and set them straight. Don't worry, the teams were fine.)

* * *

"And that's a wrap!" Mikaela said brightly, clapping her hands. "Thanks for all your work over the past few tryouts. I'll have a team list posted tomorrow morning, and if you have any questions about it, feel free to talk to Hiba or I anytime. First team practice will be..."

She trailed off when she noticed most of the people she was talking to were staring at something behind her. Some of the girls were poking each other and whispering, and almost no one was entirely focused on her anymore.

Mikaela turned around and couldn't stop herself from grinning.

Atsumu was leaning against the gym door, his head tilted down to study the phone in his hand. She hadn't seen him since she'd helped him move in to his dorm room in Akita, which was over a week ago. They had plans for this weekend, but she hadn't thought she would see him before then. Mikaela pursed her lips to fight her smile and she turned back to the team. "Um, guys? Give me ten more seconds to wrap up here."

"Is that Miya Atsumu?" one of the girls whispered.

"Yep!" Taki chirped before Mikaela could answer. "He's the Captain's boyfriend!"

"Taki!" Mikaela hissed through her teeth, feeling her face go red as the girls started whispering. She heard little quips of "the rumors are true!" and "did you read that article?" and such, and she groaned. "Hiba! Can you lead cool down stretches?"

"Absolutely," Hiba said firmly, clapping her hands. "Alright, girls, stop ogling the captain's boyfriend and let's cool down."

She grimaced, feeling her face go scarlet, and jogged over to the door, leaving the girls to cool down themselves. Atsumu had been right- that comment she'd posted on his social media post had sparked a flurry of interested gossip magazines. They'd both had a couple people reach out to them (gossip magazine reporters were relentless, ugh), but Mikaela had ignored them all. In contrast, Atsumu had given very ambiguous answers that ensured that he had as much attention as usual. They'd never publicly stated that they were together, but they shouldn't need to. Mikaela was happy, and so was he.

He glanced up from his phone and grinned at her. "Heyo."

"What're you doing here?" she asked as she got closer, grinning. "It's a two hour trip. I thought I was coming up this weekend."

"Missed you," Atsumu said with a shrug, leaning in to kiss her quickly. "Skipped class."

Mikaela glared at him. "Atsumu!"

"Relax, it was nothing important. No big deal." He glanced up at the cool down circle, where almost every girl was looking their way. "Big team," he remarked, putting his phone into his pocket.

"Tryouts," she clarified, sighing. "I have to cut twelve of them. Still haven't quite narrowed it down."

He smirked. "Want to go out for food and talk about it over dinner?"

Mikaela beamed. "Yes, please. Let me close up and then we can."

"You want me to come over and talk to 'em?" Atsumu asked, jerking his chin at the team. "Some of 'em seem pretty interested."

She rolled her eyes. "Really? You want to flirt with them right in front of me?"

"It'd be funny. You're cute when you're jealous." Mikaela scowled, ready to protest that she didn't get jealous, when he laughed. "I'm kidding. You know I walked into the wrong gym first? Walked in on the boys' practice."

"You didn't," she said lowly, and his smirk widened. _"Atsumu."_

"Yeah, Tobio didn't look all too pleased to see me," Atsumu joked. "Okay. Go finish up with your team and I'll wait for ya. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," Mikaela confirmed, kissing him quickly on the cheek before she jogged back to the cool down circle, where everyone were sitting and had their legs folded in. She quickly jumped in and replicated their movements, ignoring how everyone was staring at her. After five long seconds in which no one would look away, she scowled. "If any of you comment on it," she said with a glare, "you'll make this whole team-making decision a _lot easier._ Got it?"

No one commented on it.

(They definitely gossiped in the change room after she left, but Mikaela would just ask Taki about it later. That girl was always in the middle of it all.)

* * *

"Did you know Miya was coming down?" Kageyama asked her later when they were watching a television show in Mikaela's basement.

She shook her head. "No, it was a surprise. Sorry he bothered you." Her cousin grumbled something incoherently, and she laughed. "How's the vice captain stuff going? Are your first years nice?"

Kageyama shrugged indifferently. "Yeah. One of them really wants to be a libero."

"Is he good?"

"Yeah. Not Nishinoya good yet, but he's good." He cast her a sideways glance. "You happy?"

"Happy?" she repeated. "In what way?"

"With Miya."

Mikaela pursed her lips. He asked her this constantly, which was reassuring- at least he cared enough to ask. But Mikaela could see it in his eyes. He didn't believe her when she said she was over Tsukishima. It was April now; it had been almost six months and she still missed him. "I'm happy," she said firmly, which was the truth. "He treats me well."

Kageyama hummed in reply. "He'd better," he grumbled.

She sighed and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Thanks for caring."

"No problem?"

"Now stop bothering me and let's watch this. This is one of my favourite episodes."

He snorted. "How is this one your favourite? There's so many better ones."

She raised her eyebrows, shooting him a defiant look. "Bet."

They ended up watching television until two in the morning. Neither of them had practice the next morning, but they were planning on going for a run. The run never happened, but Mikaela was grateful either way.

* * *

Mikaela had a team.

After plenty of difficult deliberation, with some help from Hiba, Atsumu, and Yamaguchi, Mikaela had her team picked out. Taki obviously made the team again, and Shoko pulled through as a libero. They picked others to fill more middle blocker and wing spiker positions, but the one Mikaela was most excited about was the girl they'd gotten for setter.

Somi Yoruzio was one of the loudest, spunkiest girls Mikaela had ever met, and she was a brilliant setter. She didn't have the same laser precision as Kageyama, but she was smart and she was fast, and she synced up with Mikaela's ambidexterity within one practice match. They picked another first year girl as a back up setter, but Somi's talent was on a different level.

The only problem was, the girl had no filter.

"Captain!" Somi called out as Mikaela called the girls in for practice. "Is your boyfriend coming by again?"

She sighed impatiently. "No. He's got a lot to do, he shouldn't have come down in the first place."

"So cute," Taki cooed.

"Are you ever worried he won't have time for you because of university?" Somi pushed.

Mikaela exchanged a blank look with Hiba. What kind of a question was that? "Alright," she said slowly, clapping her hands. "Onto the drill. We're going to work on some serving and receiving. I've set up a practice match against Chikigoaka for next week, and I want us ready to go."

Somi jerked a hand up in the air. Mikaela sighed to herself. "Yeah, Somi?"

"Is it true that you used to date one of the guys from the boys' team?"

The captain resisted the urge to smack her head off the wall and instead glared at Taki. "Takinihashi," she growled, "if you could refrain from gossiping about me at every possible opportunity, that would be _fantastic."_

The middle blocker's jaw dropped. "But- I never said it was me!"

Mikaela raised an eyebrow at her.

She sighed dramatically. "But Captain, you're so interesting! There's so much to gossip about!"

"The captain's life is none of our business," Hiba said, crossing her arms. "Even if it's incredibly interesting."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Hiba. Alright, the Inter High is coming up fast and I want us ready to go. Our game with Chikigoaka is on Tuesday next week, and I've got another special practice game on Thursday next week."

Hiba glanced at her and frowned. "You didn't tell me about that one."

"Who is it?" Taki asked excitedly. "Is it Niiyama?"

Mikaela snorted. "No. I'm not going within ten feet of those girls until we have to play them in an actual game. No, this isn't a team we've played before, but it's one you all should know fairly well." There was a pause in which the girls tried to comprehend what she was saying, and Mikaela grinned wickedly. "We're going to be playing against the guys."

"The boys' team?!" Somi gasped.

"That's so unfair," Shoko grumbled, crossing her arms. "They're so much taller."

"They're not that much taller," she defended, gesturing to Taki. "Taki's almost as tall as Tsukishima, and he's their tallest."

"I'm two inches shorter," the middle blocker complained.

One of their new girls shot her hand up. "But they're so much stronger than us!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "All I'm hearing from you guys is the stereotypes. Stronger, taller, faster, whatever. We're not playing entirely against them- they're going to split in half and so are we, so the teams will be mixed. This is going to be good practice. If we can adjust to the guys' team, then the girls' teams will be easy, eh?"

That started to sink in, and finally her vice captain got on board. "This'll be a good experience," Hiba agreed.

"Alright then. Unless anyone has any other objections?" No one did, so Mikaela continued. "Awesome. Let's run some drills and start up with some practice. I want us to kick some ass next week."

* * *

Mikaela was really looking forward to their game against the boys. Nothing personal, of course- but she'd always wanted a chance to play against them. She knew them better than most of them knew themselves in terms of play style; well, at least, she _used_ to. She'd always wanted to play against Kageyama, and facing Tsukishima as a blocker would be great practice. He'd improved significantly since first year, and he was definitely one of the best middle blockers in the prefecture.

Hinata was another story. He'd made a huge name for himself in the volleyball world as was also up there as one of the best middle blockers in the prefecture- just, not in terms of blocking. As soon as he had his receives on point and started nailing his jump serves, there was almost nothing he couldn't do.

Yamaguchi had also completely stepped up his game from first year. He had filled Ennoshita's shoes nicely, and was turning out to be a fantastic captain. His receives used to be shaky at best, but he was significantly more comfortable with them now. His serves were also better than ever; Mikaela wouldn't have been surprised if he had the best float serve in the prefecture.

Her reasons for instigating a practice match were solid and reasonable, obviously. But Mikaela knew deep down that part of this was definitely personal.

For one, she missed them. Any chance to play volleyball with the boys was great.

Secondly, she sort of wanted to see how well she'd match up against them.

Maybe it was a bit selfish of her, but Mikaela wanted to see how good she really was. It was hard to find teams in the prefecture that had good blocking to practice against and a lot of height, and the boys were right next door. So why not?

"They're so tall," Shoko whispered, horrified as the boys walked into the gym.

"Shoyo's around five foot five," Mikaela offered, trying to console her. "Besides, maybe he'll be on the other team from you."

"Did you already make teams, Captain?" Taki asked.

She shrugged. "We have rough ideas. We're open to mixing them up as we go. Tadashi!" she called, waving to her fellow captain. "You got teams set yet? I have some ideas."

He grinned. "Sort of! I worked them out with Coach."

Ukai waved at her and she waved back. "We good with the lines, Coach?" Mikaela yelled.

"Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Mikaela, I don't care what you say, you're not allowed to play with Kageyama."

Mikaela blinked and exchanged a glance with her cousin, who looked as confused as she did. She turned back to Ukai, who was giving her the biggest 'are you serious' face that she'd ever seen. "We can't?" she asked slowly, and when she turned around to face her team. To her surprise, her team was all nodding in agreement, and so were the guys. "What? Why not?"

"You can't possibly be this dumb," Tsukishima said with a snort, crossing his arms. "You two have been playing together since birth."

"We couldn't even walk at birth, dumbass," Kageyama said with a glare.

Yamaguchi grimaced and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Kaela, we want to make the teams fair," he said carefully. "You get that, right?"

Mikaela looked at her cousin, her face slack, and saw that he was still just as confused as before. "You've never even seen us play together!" Mikaela protested. Then, she sighed, collecting herself. "Fine, fine. Let's just get these games going." She looked back at Kageyama and saw that he _still_ looked mildly confused as to why they weren't allowed to play together. Frankly, she was too- they'd never got the chance to play together before! How they could just _assume_ they were good?

Regardless, Ukai called out lines and everyone filed onto the court. Mikaela was on a team with Hinata and Yamaguchi and a few of their juniors while Tsukishima and Kageyama were on the other team.

It was probably one of the most challenging games she'd ever played, but she couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun.

"Yes!" Mikaela cheered when Hinata blasted a spike off of Kageyama's arms and out of bounds. "Nice shot!"

"Thanks!" he chirped, high-fiving her. "Playing with you's a lot of fun, Kaisha."

"Same to you, Shoyo," she said in return, grinning. "Hey, if I ever go to set, want to try a minus tempo?"

Hinata's eyes lit up. "Wait- you can do those too? Kageyama's laser precision sets? Oh, of course you can, you two are synced! Wait, can you? Why aren't you a setter, then?"

Mikaela glanced at the other team. Tsukishima had his eyes narrowed at her, listening in on their conversation. "Let's just have some fun with this, okay?"

The next point, Kageyama got a service ace (his serves were absolutely _awful,_ seriously), but on the next one, Shoko managed to get it up in the air. Somi set it and Mikaela spiked it over, but their libero picked it up. Kageyama was right, the kid was pretty good. Kageyama set it up for Hiba, and she slammed a nice cross shot down. Somi lunged forwards and managed to receive it. "Help!" she called out, indicating that she needed someone to set.

 _This is our chance._ "I got it!" Mikaela called, running towards the net to get herself under the ball.

Hinata was already sprinting over, and Mikaela watched Tsukishima out of the corner of her eye as he marked Hinata. She jumped, getting in position to set, and Hinata was already in the air. Tsukishima and Hiba both got ready to jump.

 _Gotcha._

Mikaela slammed the ball down over her head in a vicious setter dump, catching the other team completely off guard.

Well, everyone except her damn cousin.

Kageyama lunged forwards and bumped her setter dump, falling into a perfect dive and scrambling to his feet. "Damn it, Tobio!" Mikaela couldn't help but yell as she ran back into position. Tsukishima volleyed the ball up (he'd gotten pretty good at setting, she'd give him that) and Hiba spiked the ball through for a point. "Oh, come on!" she complained with a grin. "You couldn't have let me have that one?"

"I totally thought you'd send it to me!" Hinata cried, high-fiving her. "That was awesome!"

"You had us fooled," Hiba agreed, nudging Tsukishima with her elbow. The blond scoffed and turned away, clearly unwilling to admit that Mikaela had played them both like a fiddle.

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Everyone except you, idiot," she said affectionately, staring at her cousin.

He smirked at her. "Like you could ever catch me with that."

"Challenge accepted."

"Dear lord," Tsukishima groaned, smacking himself in the forehead. "You two are ridiculous."

"Just salty that you fell for it, Tsukishima?" she teased, crossing her arms.

He clicked his tongue, glaring at her. "You wish," he mocked, a smirk rising on his face.

"Kaisha! Stop hassling my team!" Yamaguchi called.

Mikaela sighed, throwing her arms up in mock exasperation. _"I'm_ the one hassling _them?!"_

"When are you not harassing someone, Your Highness?" Tsukishima said with a roll of his eyes.

"You want harassed? I'll give you harassed-"

"Kaisha! Enough!"

("The girls' captain is freaky," one of the new Karasuno boys said, taking a drink from her water bottle. "She talks back to all our senpai with no problem."

"Well, she's related to Kageyama-senpai," another added. "Maybe that's why?"

They both looked up, watching as Mikaela glared at Tsukishima and pointed at him through the net. From the sounds of it, she was threatening him. Tsukishima only seemed amused.

"She's threatening Tsukishima-senpai," the first boy said, shaking his head. "Does she not know how good they are?"

"Have you seen how good _she_ is?" a third boy piped up, jumping into the conversation. "Even though she only has one leg?"

They watched her jump serve, in which the volleyball dove to the back corner and earned her a service ace.

"Girls are scary," the second boy decided, and the other two nodded in agreement.)

They hit a point where no one really cared what the teams were. People started swapping as they liked, and Mikaela was thrilled to see that the girls were having as much fun as she was. Somi pulled off a setter dump and screamed in excitement, nearly causing Mikaela's eardrums to burst. She wasn't the only one trying new things- Shoko, who they'd deemed a good libero for the team, was trying to learn how to set, and Mikaela watched Taki try a jump serve a few times. She was having fun working around the height of the blocks; some of the new first year boys were ridiculously tall, and it was great chance for Mikaela to practice her block outs. Plus, seeing their faces when she switched hands in midair was great.

And eventually, she did get a chance to play with Kageyama. Between her and Hinata, the offensive power was insane. Everyone had been right; Kageyama and Mikaela were a bit too much to handle. She read him like a book, and vice versa.

It didn't help that she would set to her cousin just because she _could,_ which pissed the other blockers off like nothing else they tried.

"Nice one," Kageyama complimented when she sunk a spike down the line, in which it bounced off Yamaguchi's arms and flew out of bounds. "You're stronger than you were last year."

"Cruel, Kaisha!" Yamaguchi called.

Mikaela stuck her tongue out at him. "Says you! Since when did you get so good at receiving? You've been picking up every single one of my spikes!"

The captain swung his arms out, exasperated. "Ex _cuse_ me?! You just nailed that shot!"

"Yeah, 'cause you've been receiving everything!"

"Mikaela!"

She turned in the direction of the voice. Ukai was waving her over. "Sub out," she called, high-fiving one of their new first years. "Go kick some ass." Mikaela grabbed her water bottle and jogged over to the coach. He was looking over his clipboard, but glanced up again when she got near. "What's up, coach?"

"Giving you a break," he said with a shrug. "You haven't subbed out once."

Mikaela shrugged. "This is fun."

He hummed in response. "Yeah. This came at a good time, I think the newbies are starting to loosen up." Mikaela glanced at the far court and grinned when she saw some of Karasuno's first year boys talking to some of her new girls. Somi was waving her arms and talking about something enthusiastically, and although the boys seemed a bit taken aback by her loud personality, they were engaging in the conversation. "Although, I have to ask..." Ukai frowned at her. "Were there any ulterior motives to this?"

"No," she said immediately, then she sighed. "Yeah, sort of. I missed the guys. Now that I'm captain I've got a lot more to do and I can't practice with them as much as I used to last year."

"No part of you wanted to see how you'd stack up against the guys?"

Mikaela grinned sheepishly. "You got me. Yeah, that's definitely a part of it. Turns out I'm still pretty decent on offense but my defense sucks."

Ukai laughed. "Yamaguchi could teach you a thing or two."

"I know, right? His receives are fantastic," she agreed, taking another sip of her water. "Tsukishima too. My blocking isn't all that great either." She glanced at the coach, and he was staring at her with a weird expression on his face. "What?"

"Nothing," he dismissed, and Mikaela let it drop. "How're you guys shaping up for Inter High?"

"Pretty good, actually." She watched as Hiba set for Tsukishima. "For some of them, I've been emphasizing being well rounded, and for some of the newbies, I've been trying to encourage them to get really good at what they're doing. Like Somi."

"Your setter, right?" Ukai asked, and she nodded. "Is she good?"

"Relative to who? Tobio?"

The coach huffed, rolling his eyes. "Does she fit well with the team?"

Mikaela nodded. "She's pretty good. She synced up with me in no time at all, which was a surprise. She doesn't hesitate either, which is always good. Although she doesn't have Tobio's precision, she's consistent and is more than I hoped for, honestly. I was worried we weren't going to get a setter and I'd have to set or something ridiculous like that."

"It'd be a crime to your team to make you set."

"Much appreciated."

"Have you heard about scholarships from universities yet? Kageyama's gotten an offer, right?"

Mikaela nodded. "Yeah. But he's not going to take it. He's got no interest in education after high school, he's going to go straight into volleyball. If anything, he'll enjoy the time off so he can train. I haven't heard anything yet."

Ukai raised his eyebrows. "Really? I would've thought they'd be coming at you like moths to a light."

She snorted. "Nah, I wish. It's probably the whole prosthetic issue."

"How so?"

"I don't know if I'm _allowed_ to play, even if I wanted to." Mikaela kicked out her leg, glaring at the shiny metal prosthetic. "I know for sure that I can't do Olympics, and Hujita-san said my chances on Team Japan for worlds- like, just volleyball, not Olympics- are still slim at best. I've been playing high school with no issues, so university should be fine, but..." she sighed. "Don't know yet."

He sighed. "You're unlucky, kiddo."

"I guess so," she said with a sigh. "It is what it is."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Get back and play another round."

Mikaela perked up. "Yes, sir."

"Not on Kageyama's team!"

"Aw, please?"

"You just played on his team for ten points and your side won nine of those. No way."

"...yes, Coach."

* * *

Practice had long since finished, but Mikaela was still hanging out in the gym. Most of their juniors had gone home for the night, but Yamaguchi, Hinata, Kageyama, and to her surprise, Tsukishima hung around to play a bit more. Somi ended up hanging around and they played three on three, and in order to keep the gender ratio the same, she got to play on a team with Kageyama. Somi was on a team with Hinata and Tsukishima, and even though she was a bit taller than Hinata, Tsukishima completely towered over her.

Mikaela couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun playing volleyball. She got roofed by Tsukishima repeatedly, Hinata was unfairly good at digging her spikes, and Somi was quickly figuring out how to use Hinata's speed. Their game was tight, but Mikaela had no idea who won- they stopped counting.

"Alright," Yamaguchi said, clapping his hands. "Let's clean up and go home for the night."

"I got the net," Mikaela called, jogging over to the net and pulling it off the post.

"How do you still have energy, Captain?" Somi asked, sitting down in the middle of the court. "I'm exhausted!"

She grinned. "You stayed with us through all of that. Not bad, Somi."

Somi straightened up. "Thanks, Captain!"

"How'd you like a spot on the starting line?"

"I thought- I thought I was already on the starting line?" she asked in confusion, cocking her head as Mikaela started folding the net. "Well, Hiba-senpai mentioned something like that? Yesterday? Unless- are you putting Maori as setter? But I thought..." she trailed off.

Maori was the other first year that they'd taken as setter. Mikaela frowned. "Yeah, I could give the spot to Maori. Or, you know, if you annoy me too much, I'll take over setting."

"But you're not a setter."

"Watch me."

"You wouldn't do that."

"She would," the four boys said in unison, and Mikaela almost laughed. "She's that petty," Hinata added, pulling one of the volleyball net poles up from the gym floor. "We love her, though."

Mikaela grinned, and turned back to Somi. "I'm joking. You'll be our starting setter."

Her eyes lit up, and Mikaela's heart warmed when she saw how excited the brunette looked. "Awesome!" she chirped, pushing herself up to her feet. "Wow, thanks, Captain! You're nicer than everyone says you are!"

Her eyebrow twitched in irritation, and Yamaguchi burst into laughter. "Who says..." she trailed off with a sigh, shooting Yamaguchi a glare. "Oh, knock it off."

Somi grabbed the other pole and walked with her to the storage room. "You're really close with all the guys, Captain," she said. "How'd that happen? Is it because of your cousin?"

"Not really," Mikaela confessed, pulling open the storage room door. "I was the manager of their team when I was in my first year."

"Oh! I remember now! Because you were in that interview, right? The one with your boyfriend?"

She scowled, helping Somi put the pole away. "He wasn't at the time," she said quickly, shaking her head. "And yes. That one. Here, I'll take this for you. You go home, you've already been here over an hour longer than you should."

Somi thanked her and left the equipment in her care. Mikaela sighed to herself and righted the heavy pole, carefully trying to lean it against the side of one of the storage cabinets. She turned to the cabinet where the bin for the nets was supposed to be and groaned when she saw it was on the top shelf. She was tall, but not _that_ tall. Mikaela pushed herself up onto her toes of her working leg, trying to reach. Her fingers tugged at the bin.

"Careful."

She nearly flinched when a hand came up to steady the bin from behind her. Mikaela turned and felt heat fly to her face. "Tsukishima," she said, her voice a pitch higher than it should've been.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "It was going to fall on you, idiot. Hand me the net."

Wordlessly, she handed it over. He reached out from behind her and slid the net into the bin with ease. What was odd, however, was how he didn't move afterwards. Mikaela had expected him to back away immediately, but instead, he stayed there. He was close enough that she could-

Heat rushed to her face. "Sorry!" she said loudly, stepping around him as he leaned back in surprise. "Sorry!" Mikaela said again, charging out of the storage room and refusing to look back.

She could've kissed him, and just the fact she was even _thinking_ about it made her stomach twist itself into knots. _You're dating Atsumu, dumbass._

 _Atsumu._

Mikaela jogged to her bag, trying to clear her mind, and rummaged through it to find her phone. As soon as she found it, she threw on her jacket and tossed her bag over her shoulder, finding Atsumu's contact in her phone.

He picked up on the second ring. _"Hey!"_ he said brightly, and Mikaela's guilt intensified. _"What's up? You never call."_

"I miss you," she said abruptly, heading out of the gym. "When can I see you?"

 _"You all good, Princess? I mean, I'm flattered, don't get me wrong, but..."_ he trailed off. _"You're never quite this forward. Everything okay?"_

His concern made her shoulders relax slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said honestly, her fingers tightening around her phone. She looked over her shoulder, back at the gym. No one else had come out yet. "I just miss you. I haven't seen you in- what, one week? Two?"

He hummed. _"A long time to go without a face as gorgeous as mine."_

"You're ridiculous," Mikaela said, but she was grinning. "Can I come down? Are you busy?"

 _"Mikaela, it's two hours by train. By the time ya get here, it'll be seven at night. Then what? You stay for a few hours and catch the last train back home? You'll be travellin' more than actually seein' me."_

"So you're not busy?"

 _"Did ya hear a word I said?"_

"Yeah- could I stay the weekend? You have a single room, right?"

There was a pause over the phone, and Mikaela thought she may have heard Atsumu stammering something. Eventually, he chimed in again. _"Seriously? The weekend?"_

"Unless you don't want me to," she said quickly, suddenly realizing how forceful she was being. "Sorry, this was dumb-"

 _"No! Come over."_

"Actually?"

 _"As long as you're cool helpin' me do my homework this weekend. Yeah, come down for the weekend."_ Mikaela could hear him smiling over the phone. _"You can come to a uni party, meet my friends. Oh! You should meet my volleyball team! We have a practice this weekend, if you're cool with that."_

She beamed. "That sounds awesome. You're sure?"

 _"Yep. S'long as you're okay stayin' in my room for the weekend."_

"What, you mean I can't kick you out?"

 _"You're hilarious, Princess. Text me when you get on the train."_

"I will." Mikaela paused, smiling to herself. "Atsu? Thank you."

 _"Nah, thanks for offering. At least now I won't be bored all weekend."_

"See you soon."

 _"See you."_

Mikaela hung up, staring at her phone screen, and her eyes wandered over his contact information. She'd taken a random photo of him for his contact photo- it was a picture of him sticking his tongue out at the camera, giving her the middle finger. She missed him. She'd see him soon.

She shut off her phone and ran home to pack.

* * *

The Inter High came fast, but Mikaela was proud at how well the Karasuno girls had prepared themselves. Sure, they were still shaky in some areas, but they'd put in a lot of hard work and Mikaela felt ready to go.

The first day went well. They played a no-name school and won in straight sets. It was when they got back that day did something eventful happen.

"Wow!" Taki chirped as they hopped off the bus, her eyes glued to her phone. "There was a reporter or something at our games today!" When people gathered around her, asking what she meant, Taki held out her phone. "There's an article on all the games today, girls and guys."

"Really?" Yamaguchi asked skeptically, frowning. "They normally don't send reporters here, especially on the first day."

The middle blocker shrugged. "Then explain this! They're listing everyone who won and lost and the scores," she said, her eyes scanning through the article, "and they've- oh! They list the Karasuno boys and girls as the biggest teams to win it this year." Everyone grinned and started whispering to each other, clearly pleased. But there was something in Taki's eyes that Mikaela didn't like. She was frowning at her screen.

"Taki," Mikaela said. "What is it?"

"Well..." she trailed off. "They talk about our teams."

"What's so bad about that?" Hinata chirped, jumping behind the tall girl in an effort to see her screen. "They've listed us as some of the favorites, right? What's so bad about that?"

Ukai quirked an eyebrow. "Are they bad-mouthing us? Reporters have to be very careful with how they phrase things."

Judging by the way Taki was biting her lip and avoiding eye contact, Mikaela had an inkling that it was about her. "Taki," she said firmly. "Let me read it." She hesitated, and Mikaela held out her hand. Finally, the middle blocker handed over her phone.

"Read it out loud," Kageyama suggested.

Probably for the best- everyone was staring at the phone, both guys and girls alike, and not everyone could see it. Mikaela narrowed her eyes at the screen. "They go on about the boys team for a bit, all good things," she mused, then frowned. "...led by fearless captain Yamaguchi Tadashi, a well rounded player with fierce floater serves," she read, and Yamaguchi flushed, "the Karasuno boys are on their way to great places. However, the Karasuno girls are a bit more of a conundrum." She looked up from the phone. "What does that even mean?"

"Keep reading," Shoko urged quietly.

Mikaela looked back down at the phone. "With a big name like Mikaela Kaisha on the team," she read with a scowl on her face, "it's clear the team will also go to great places. However, you have to question the logic of appointing..." she trailed off.

Everyone waited in baited silence.

She cleared her throat and continued. "Of appointing a temperamental, bull-headed player as a captain," Mikaela said quietly. "It's well known that she's a powerhouse on the court- a demon, if you will- but there are several alarming incidents that lead to people questioning the decision to set her as the captain. From a video that went viral eighteen months ago to starting a public argument with a Shiratorizawa player last year, it's clear that Mikaela Kaisha doesn't have herself in a steady head space. Is she really the best choice to control a team when she can't even control her own..." she sighed. "Emotions."

There was a heavy pause as the words sunk in, and Mikaela silently handed the phone back to Taki. Her head was spinning. Well, it wasn't like they had lied, exactly. She _was_ a bit too stubborn, and she _was_ pretty emotional. _Getting mad at this only proves the writer's point._

"Mikaela," Ukai said carefully, "you of all people should know that social media blows things out of proportion."

 _Just play it off._ Mikaela forced a sheepish grin. "Well, they're not wrong," she said with a fake laugh, tightening her ponytail. "I mean, I'm related to Kageyama. What'd you expect?"

This seemed to put a few people at ease, but she could still see Kageyama staring at her skeptically. "Didn't Kuroo literally call you Temper-san?" Tsukishima added.

She glanced at him, not sure if he was trying to help or shoot her down but she appreciated it nonetheless. "Yep. And that was well before I was a player," she said lightly, ignoring the familiar pressure behind her eyes. "Alright, as your horribly angry captain, everyone go home and get some sleep! We don't need any grumpy players tomorrow."

The tension diffused, and everyone started breaking up to head home. Mikaela looked around making sure all of her girls were heading out, then shouldered her bag and huffed.

"Mikaela." She turned to face Takeda, who was frowning at her. "You sure you're alright?"

She nodded. "Yep! Not like I haven't had to deal with crappy media before. You learn to take it with a grain of salt."

He seemed to accept her answer, so Mikaela turned around again, only to hear someone call out her name. She glanced to her right and raised an eyebrow when she saw Tsukishima. "Now what?" she asked.

"Walk home?" he suggested.

It had been a long time since they'd walked back together. Almost eight months. "Sure," Mikaela forced out, the heat continuing to build behind her eyes. She gave Kageyama quick hug, making him promise to get some rest and not go for a run, then jogged to catch up with Tsukishima. "Thanks," she murmured as she fell into step with him.

"Just hold back the waterworks until you get home at least, please."

Mikaela scowled, then sighed. "You caught that? Yeah." She wiped at her eyes, exhaling slowly. They were out of sight of everyone else now, so she was probably okay. "Fuck," she said with a sigh. "I'm literally the one telling people that social media doesn't matter and here we are."

Tsukishima shrugged. "Well, you're only proving him right."

"I know, dumbass." She paused. "Wait, the author's a him?"

"I have no idea. Don't you?"

"No. Why would I?"

He snorted. "Wow. And here I was, thinking that there was no way you'd take this sitting down." When she raised an eyebrow at him, confused, he rolled his eyes. "Honestly. Do I need to explain everything to you? If that reporter was here today, there's no doubt he- or she- is hanging around for the rest of the games this weekend. You'd be stupid not to assume they're going to approach you at some point."

"And they're going to back me into a corner," Mikaela realized, the pieces finally clicking together in her head. "They're going to ask me stuff that'll piss me off so that they can get an angry response."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes again. "Finally. Took you long enough."

Mikaela was too startled by the revelation to retort. "So, basically, I just need as much information as I can get," she said slowly, trying to map it all out. "And when they come at me, I'll have to be prepared, or know how to respond, or..." she groaned, slapping herself in the forehead. "I _hate_ social media."

"You asked for this."

"Don't remind me." She stopped in the middle of the road and dug her phone out, starting to hunt for the article. Tsukishima paused beside her. "I wonder how much info I can dig up about this dirt bag," Mikaela mused to herself.

She felt a weight on her shoulder. Tsukishima had his elbow up, leaning on her. "Well, if you're still as good of a stalker as you used to be, I'm sure you'll have no problems," he remarked.

Mikaela rolled her eyes. She held her phone out to him. "Look, it's a guy," she said, her eyebrows knitting together. "Kyoyo Rui."

Tsukishima's head dropped closer to hers as he narrowed his eyes at her phone. "Can't say I recognize the name." He read into her silence. "You recognize it?"

She'd nearly forgotten that Tsukishima, at one point in her life, had known her inside and out. It looked like he could still read her plenty fine. Mikaela felt herself blush, and she nodded. "Yeah, the surname looks familiar. I don't study people as much as I used to, but I've seen that before. Dammit, Kyoyo. Kyoyo, Kyoyo, Kyoyo," she chanted, massaging her free hand into her temple. "Where the hell is that from?"

"You're normally a dictionary for this sort of thing."

"Yeah, so why can't I remember?" Mikaela said with a sigh. She scrolled back up to the article, reading through for some clue. She glanced sideways at Tsukishima, who was reading over her shoulder, his elbow still propped up on her. She reached up with her free hand and pushed his glasses up higher onto his nose. "You can't expect to read if those fall off," she teased.

Tsukishima scowled. "I wasn't reading."

"You totally were."

"I was skimming. There's a difference." His eyes dropped back to her phone. "Wait, one second." The blond took her phone from her and stood up straight, but she didn't protest. He read over something. "How'd he know you almost beat up that Shiratorizawa girl last year?" he asked, handing her phone back to her.

She scowled, ready to defend herself. "I didn't..."

Mikaela trailed off. It clicked.

"That's it!" she cried, grabbing her phone (and by consequence, Tsukishima's hand). "The Shiratorizawa bitch! Oh, I so badly wanted to break her nose- yeah, that's her family name! I remember now!"

"Took you long enough," he said with a snort.

They both stood there awkwardly, Mikaela still sort of holding his hand. She coughed and dropped his hand, nearly fumbling her phone but managing to keep a hold of it. "That's great," Mikaela said, glancing down the road. They were just about at her house. She started walking again, and Tsukishima stepped into pace with her. "Anything else I should think of?"

"Ten to one says it'll be live, versus pre-recorded." Tsukishima shrugged. "If anything happens and they're just recording it to play later, there's a bunch of screening that can happen before it goes out. Plenty of time for your mother to track down the company and figure out something to sue them for."

Mikaela laughed. "Yeah, I guess so." She turned away from him, heading towards her driveway. "Tsukishima?" she called as he kept walking, causing him to pause and look back. "Thank you."

He smirked. "Go do your homework, Mikaela."

"Thanks for that."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes and kept walking, and Mikaela watched him leave before she headed into her house. She closed the door behind her and started pulling off her shoes. "Hey, Kaisha!" her mother called. From the sounds of it, she was in the kitchen, hopefully making dinner. "How was day one?"

"We won," she called back.

"As expected."

Mikaela snorted, pulling out her phone. She typed the article name into her search engine and pulled it up, scrolling to the section about Karasuno. "Hey, Mom?" she asked, wandering towards the kitchen. "I need help with something."

Her mother set down the tray in her hands, pulling off her oven mitts. "With what?"

"There's an article," Mikaela began, and she held it out for her mother to read. She dove into the reality of the situations mentioned in the report- specifically, the encounter with the Shiratorizawa girl- and added that the odds of the same reporter approaching her some time this weekend were high. "It's a guy," she said, noting the author of the article. "I have no idea who."

"Well..." her mother trailed off, finishing her reading and looking back to her daughter. "What do you need my help with?"

Mikaela's eyes flashed dangerously and she smirked. "I need to fuck him up."

Her mother's smirk rivaled her own. They got to work.

* * *

The second day was when things went a little bit haywire.

Mikaela woke up in the morning to a text from Maori, their other first year setter. Apparently, she hadn't been feeling well yesterday and woke up vomiting. It was an easy decision: Mikaela told her to stay home and rest up. Maori wasn't on the starting line-up, so it wasn't like this would be detrimental to their playing. She was a positive presence on the sideline, so she would be missed- but it was best for her to be healthy.

They won the quarterfinal game against Johzenji, which was a fun but chaotic game. The boys had won their match too, and were in their semifinal now, playing against Shiratorizawa. They were in their semifinal too; the Karasuno girls were playing a tough match against Aoba Johsai.

"Nice serve!" someone called as Mikaela nailed her jump serve. The girl on Aoba Johsai got it up into the air, but it went sailing back over the net. Shoko received it cleanly, and Somi pulled off a beautiful setter dump, earning them the point. Karasuno was up 23 - 21 in the second set after dropping the first set, so they had to win this one and the next one in order to make it to the finals tomorrow.

Mikaela missed her next serve, putting Aoba Johsai within one point, but Hiba received the next ball and Mikaela did a back row set to put them up to match point. One of their new first years, Yao Hunami, was up to serve. She was a ridiculously tall- six foot four _-_ and a great middle blocker, but her serves weren't overly powerful, which meant that there'd probably be a quick set.

She grinned to herself as the ball went exactly where she expected it to. She bumped it, and Somi set it to Hiba. Hiba's spike hit the block and flew to the back of their court.

"Got it!" Yao yelled. She lunged, hitting the ball up. Somi dashed to get under the ball to set it and she leaped, twisting in midair to set the ball up to Mikaela. She jumped and punched it through the triple block, getting them the point and winning them the set.

"Great save!" Mikaela said with a grin, waving to Yao. "Great set, Somi- Somi?"

Her junior was squatting at the side of the court, her hands wrapped around her ankle. It was the end of the set, so everyone was moving to their benches, but the Karasuno girls were all crowded around their setter.

"Back up! Give her space!" Mikaela called, moving towards the huddle. A few people backed up, and Mikaela crouched down. "Somi. What happened?"

"Not sure. Something just..." she trailed off. "I landed and it hurt. I think it's fine now."

"Are you sure?" Hiba asked. "We should get that looked at."

"I agree," Mikaela added before Somi could interject. "Can you walk on it?"

Taki and Shoko helped Somi to her feet, and the brunette slowly put weight down on her ankle. She winced slightly. "Mostly fine," Somi admitted. "It's not that bad. It just aches a bit."

Mikaela exchanged a glance with Hiba as Taki and Shoko helped Somi get seated on the bench. "Hey," she called to one of their first year girls on the bench. "I want you to go get the nurse. Tell her a girl twisted her ankle." The girl nodded and took off.

"It's not that bad!" the brunette protested.

"Maybe not, but we have to treat it like it is," she said firmly, trying to rise up to her captain role. "You're going to sit out for the last set, and if it's fine, then _maybe_ you can play tomorrow when we win this set and go on to the finals."

Somi glared at her. "You played two games at nationals last year with a broken wrist!"

 _Sprained._ Mikaela bit her tongue. "Which is why," she said quietly, struggling to control her words, "I know more than anyone what playing with an injury can do to make it worse. I've learned my lesson from that and I'm not about to make you learn it too." Somi finally backed down, sighing in disappointment.

"But Maori's not here," Taki said hesitantly. "We don't have a setter."

Hiba shook her head. "Maori's out sick. It would've been dangerous for her and for us if she came, and she'd probably only make her illness worse if she played."

"Captain can set," Somi blurted out.

Everyone turned to look at her, and Mikaela's anxiety spiked in her chest. Yes, she could set, and yes, she'd gotten better at it since last year, but... no time to worry about it. "Yeah, I can," she said with a reluctant sigh. "Alright ladies, this is our game plan. I'm going to fill in as the setter. Yumina," she added, turning to one of their second years who played wing spiker, "you're going to fill in for me and I'll take Somi's spot in the rotation. You good with that?"

Yumina hesitated but nodded. "Are we... allowed to do that?"

"We don't have a choice," Mikaela said firmly. "And when we get back, the first thing on the agenda is going to be making Maori a get well card." The girls laughed, and Mikaela felt a bit better. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the nurse coming through the door. "Alright. Hiba, can you submit the new rotation?"

"On it," the vice captain said, nodding.

"Great. Let's do this, ladies." Mikaela put her hand in the middle, and everyone else piled their hands in. "Karasuno, fight!" She seemed confident on the outside, but internally, she wanted to scream. She wasn't a setter- literally anything _but._ She'd been a libero, middle blocker wasn't all that different from wing spiker, but _setter?_ What if she botched this and ruined the whole game for everyone else? What if they lost because she was a shitty setter? Holy crap, this was all going to be her fault-

"Mikaela."

She jerked out of her thoughts and glanced at Hiba. "Yeah?"

"You know the plays?"

"Like the back of my hand," Mikaela assured her.

"And you know where you need to go on the start of serves? And where you move to?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

Hiba sighed reluctantly and clapped her on the shoulder. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, but you need to know it," she said. "We're counting on you, Captain."

Mikaela swallowed nervously. "Yeah. I know." She looked up to the stands and almost melted- the boys were here already. They must've won in straight sets. She wanted to scream; now they were going to be _watching._ As if she didn't have enough pressure on her.

Her panicked eyes locked on Kageyama's and she mimed setting with her hands, then gestured to Somi on the bench. Kageyama's eyes flitted from her to Somi and back to her, and then mimed setting. Mikaela nodded, pointing to herself. Kageyama's eyes bugged out of his head, and he leaned over to whisper something to Yamaguchi. His eyes widened, and he looked down at the court. He mouthed, _for real?_

She nodded. The whistle blew, and she moved to where Somi's spot was on the court.

 _I'm related to one of the top setters in Japan and I'm dating the number one setter from last year. If there's anyone that can pick up setting in one game, it's me,_ Mikaela chanted to herself as Yumina set up to serve. _You're a setter. You're a setter. You're a setter._ She thought back to the training camp last year when she'd had to play as setter. _I can do this._

To her surprise, the game didn't go half as bad as she thought it would.

She stuck with simple sets at first, in second and third tempo, which worked out okay. A few times, she overshot or undershot, but her teammates were extra wary of her and were able to mostly recover, hitting it with a different hand or others following up for the third hit. As the set rolled on and Mikaela got more comfortable with it, she started breaking out quick attacks.

Mikaela started having fun. Watching the blockers set up and then sending it in a direction they weren't expecting was satisfying, and she was starting to understand why Kageyama liked being a setter so much.

That, and her setter dumps were vicious. She pulled one of those out every now and then to remind Aoba Johsai of her original position.

They ended up winning the third set 26 - 24. "We're going to the finals!" Taki whooped, pumping her fists in the air. She tackled Mikaela in a hug, and before she knew it, she was the center of a giant Karasuno group hug. Even Somi got up and piled on, insisting that her ankle was fine. Mikaela was just relieved- that was enough setting for her for the rest of her life.

"Okay," Mikaela said with a laugh as everyone piled off of her. "I think that's it, we need a third setter."

Everyone laughed and started to go pack up their things. She caught Kageyama's eyes and he grinned, shooting her a thumbs up. Mikaela laughed to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. How she'd pulled that off was a mystery to her, but she was glad it was over and that it had all worked out.

"Mikaela Kaisha? A word?"

She glanced up and her face went slack.

A man was standing there in a suit and tie with a microphone in his hand. His black hair was carefully combed and he had a camera man following him. This was only the semifinals- she hadn't expected any reporters here. But it was the logo on his jacket that gave him away. Something in Mikaela's mind clicked, and she connected the man in front of her to the many pictures she and her mother had hunted for online.

This was the guy who wrote that article.

"Of course," she said quickly, collecting herself as information started flooding her head. "Thank you."

"I'm Kyoyo Rui," he said, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"I'm aware," Mikaela said calmly, shaking his hand and smiling tightly. He couldn't hide the surprise on his face, which filled her with a bit more confidence. "I'm a huge fan of your articles," she said with a smirk. "Is this live?"

Kyoyo managed to collect himself and shot a wary look back at the camera man, then looked back to her. His air of confidence returned. "Yes, this is in fact live," he confirmed, and Mikaela's heart leaped into her throat. "Spectacular game. Were you really playing setter in the third set?"

"I was," she said, trying to stop herself from fidgeting. "I'm glad it all worked out."

"And why was that?"

"Our setter rolled her ankle. The nurse cleared her, so she's fine, but we weren't going to take any chances. Our back-up setter is out sick." As much as Mikaela wanted to snap at him, she knew she had to wait. What was it her mother said? _Wait for him to prompt you._

Kyoyo nodded. "Well, Mikaela," he said, and he shifted slightly, "what do you have to say to the rumors that you're unfit to captain your team?"

 _Well, that was blunt._

"Rumors?" she asked, and Kyoyo nodded. "As far as I'm aware, my team is hard working and successful. We'll be competing in the finals tomorrow. I don't see any cause for concern- especially from people outside of my team."

That was a line she'd rehearsed with her mother, and she was pleased with how it came out, but it was clear Kyoyo wanted more. "Actually, there are many causes for alarm," he continued, "including an argument that you instigated with one of the Shiratorizawa players just last year. Onlookers say that it would've gone physical if you hadn't been held back by your teammates."

Mikaela smiled. "By onlookers, do you mean your daughter?"

He paused. "I'm sorry?"

"The Shiratorizawa player that you refuse to name," Mikaela clarified, smirking. She really owed Tsukishima for helping her figure out that one. "Your daughter. I'm afraid that you may be, perhaps, biased? Especially with a source coming from within family. I can assure you that it never turned physical, and I've very glad I had my teammates there to calm me down, especially with all the rude things she said to me."

"Rude things?"

Mikaela nodded. "I'd say them, but I shouldn't be cursing on live television."

Kyoyo looked taken aback, and Mikaela resisted the urge to flip him off. "I wasn't aware-"

"No, probably not," she agreed. "Isn't it considered unprofessional to publish a story without knowing all the details? With only having one side of the story- and, a biased opinion at that?" Mikaela grinned and waved her hand. "Sorry. I shouldn't be telling you how to do your job. Just like," she added, her smile growing wider, "you shouldn't be telling me how to do mine. So if you don't mind, I have some captaining to do."

She turned around and walked back to her team, grinning like an idiot.

 _Payback is so, so sweet._

* * *

 **Early update because I'm obsessed with this story and I d** **esperately want to hear what you guys think XD**

 **Also! I have a desperately urgent question for you all, at the bottom of the chapter, past all of the review responses. If you want to have some sort of input in this story, feel free to answer it!**

 **StarlightNALU:** Thank you kindly for your condolences :) Mwahaha, my specialty is exploiting emotions! XD I know, right?! I really miss those first-date vibes, so writing that chapter really took me back. Don't worry, not too much hurt planned out for the future (I think? No guarantees XD) but next chapter will definitely have a bit of emotion... mwahaha XD Thank you so much for your kind words and your review! :)

 **SoccerSarah01:** Mikaela's so hung up on Tsukishima, it's not even funny T^T Yep, Tsukishima chapter coming up for sure! It's mostly a compilation of mini scenes, from all of their second year and third year. Not enough that I wanted to mix them in with these chapters (I think readers need to see one side and then the other, not both at the same time), so I put them all together. Anyways! I'm so glad you enjoyed, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **ScarletSea:** Aha thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed! :)

 **Averi-nova:** Thank you kindly :) Absolutely not lol I'm obsessed with this story, I legitimately check for new reviews every day and I read the comments posted on Wattpad too often XD I'm so glad you caught that vibe! I was trying to show their chemistry and just how something's a little bit off, but you can't quite catch what. You bet Daichi and the others will make a reappearance! Of course they're going to come watch their boys :) I appreciate the offer to beat people up, and I shall assist you! I have some martial arts experience XD Thank you so so much for your reviews, I love hearing from you! :D

 **Padgent:** Thank you kindly :) Ahhh I know, I feel so conflicted myself! Like I've had this mapped out for a while but Atsumu just... makes me want to put him and Mikaela as endgame XD He's so addicting to write! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **haikyuurarepairs:** Thank you kindly :) YAY I'm so glad that you like how I write Atsumu! He's so fun and because he's in third year, technically I'm allowed to deviate a bit because he's a year older than canon XD Their losses are frustrating, and it'll only get worse... I won't spoil too much! Thank you so much for your compliments and your review! :D

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** I have Atsumu pegged as someone who thinks he's a smooth talker but in reality his lines only work fifty percent of the time XD LMAO the three of them would be absolutely chaotic, you already KNOW Tsukishima hates Atsumu and that Atsumu would do anything to get on his last nerve XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Sayori1412:** Thank you kindly :) Mikaela knows too many people, and if I tried to write all of the reactions these chapters would be doubled in length XD Of course Mikaela's going to get hurt, what kind of writer would I be if my main character didn't suffer a bit? Just wait until next chapter ;) Yes, third round is quarter finals! Ahh thank you so much! Thank you so much for your kind words and your lovely review! :D

 **ElliElver:** It is my solemn duty to make you flip from ship to ship like lightning as often as I can. I'm glad it's working XD Trust me, I had an aneurysm trying to write Tsukishima and Mikaela after I'd done all this fluff with Atsumu and Mikaela, it took me a while to recover XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **somberset:** Thank you kindly :) It's not just you, I LOVE writing Atsumu and Mikaela! I miss writing light-hearted banter so I threw myself into their chemistry oops XD NO LMAO I HAVE ENOUGH TROUBLE WITH TWO SHIPS if I tried to throw Kuroo in there I'd be ruined T^T It's hard enough trying to convince myself that I need to write more Tsukishima in light of how addicting Atsumu is, I don't need Kuroo ruining my life as well XD Yay for being up to date with the manga! The manga's hitting me right in the feels right now, I am not okay XD Thank you so much for your kind words and your review! :D

 **yangri:** IF YOUR REVIEW'S IN ALL CAPS THEN I MUST RESPOND IN KIND! HAIKYUU BOYS HAVE ABSOLUTELY RUINED MY STANDARDS OF MEN, LIKE HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND SOMEONE WHEN I WRITE ROMANCES WITH TSUKISHIMA AND ATSUMU? HOW? OH I'M SO EXCITED FOR YOU ALL TO READ TSUKISHIMA'S REACTIONS BUT I'M PUTTING MYSELF OFF SO I CAN MAKE A BIG COMPILATION CHAPTER OF DIFFERENT MOMENTS! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS AND I HOPE THIS CHAPTER REACHES YOU AT A DECENT TIME OF DAY! :)

 **luvielle:** Ohhhhhhh it's so hard for me to write both of them, my heart is divided between Tsukki and Atsumu T^T You'll have to wait and see how Tsukishima feels! It's coming up in a few chapters! :D I'M GLAD YOU GOT YOUR HOMEWORK DONE and thank you for your review! :D

 **Siera-Knightwalker:** I'm not over Tsukishima either, that's okay XD Yup! Third year is injury free, I promise! A few emotional hiccups but it'll be injury free :) Just like Kageyama, she takes care of herself- but she pushes herself too hard in games. Poor girl just doesn't know when to quit. Thank you for all of your input and for your review! :)

 **Vylzana:** SHGSJKGDSKJ THANK YOU?! I have a soft spot for those kind of guys, the ones that are snarky but big softies XD That's probably why Tsukishima and Atsumu are the love interests here... I'm so glad you think he's still in character, I'm brushing off little things as "he's a year older than canon so he's allowed to be a little bit different right?" and it's ruining me XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Daffodil:** ZOOM CLASS?! Online classes and you're still reading fanfics during class, I applaud you XD Don't worry, Tsukki's coming back! I promise! Karasuno beat Inarizaki, yes, when Hinata and the lot were in their first year. According to the manga, they lost to Inarizaki in their second year of nationals. Thank you so much for your kind words and your lovely review! :)

 **Guest ("please bring back...):** He's coming ;)

 **Guest ("Honestly speaking...):** Don't apologize! Your opinion is entirely valid! And I totally agree! Mikaela's doing things for herself at the moment, but think of it from her eyes: she thinks Tsukishima hates her. She called a truce with him and he was still a bit cold to her. She doesn't know what he's going through right now. Yes, you're totally right- Tsukishima is definitely hurting. But you can't blame Mikaela for going after Atsumu- she has no idea what's going through Tsukishima's head. Don't worry, all will work out in the end. ;) Thank you for your review! :)

 **ohmygawdpls:** Ahhh thank you! I'm so glad you like them together, thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Swaggishima:** Thank you kindly :) I'm glad you like it! Personally, I love both of their relationships for different reasons, but we both know which one is going to come out on top ;) Thank you so much for all of your work on Wattpad (I've been reading the comments and I love them!) and thank you for your review! :)

 **channingayle02:** That's a big mood aha XD It's Atsumu for now, but just wait and see ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **PureChaos27:** I've been in love with Atsumu since his appearance in the manga, so I'm glad others are discovering him now XD I'm so glad you love Atsumu in this fic! If it helps, I can't read the manga without putting Mikaela in there somewhere, she's taken me over now XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Inola:** Thank you kindly :) I miss Tsukishima too, don't worry! You'll get a chapter where you can see exactly what Tsukishima's thinking ;) Mikaela and Tsukishima are getting back to being friends now- they both realize how important the other is to them and they're trying to work it out. You'll have to wait to see how it plays out, though ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Anne Nonimus:** The sheer size of your reviews always blow me away, thank you so much! I'll try my best to answer everything. Yeah, she's getting better at interviews! Doesn't mean she has to like them, aha. For some weird reason I see Atsumu as flirty? I'd like to say that it's just because Mikaela's there. He likes to get under people's skin, and what better way to do it than subtly flirt with other girls in front of the one he likes? XD You said harem and it's given me an idea for the future- nothing serious or bad! Just something I'm going to have some fun with ;) In my experience, I've seen people break up with others and start dating someone else in the span of two weeks. From my own experience, it depends a lot on the relationship. One that I was in, I was fine after a week. A separate one, I was still pining for him three months later. I totally agree, there's something about Mikaela's relationship with Tsukishima that she won't find in Atsumu: the same sense of comfort and safety. To be honest, I see Atsumu as a bit of a rich kid, and judging by how much he's thrown himself into obsessing over volleyball, I bet his parents haven't been in the picture a whole lot. So, why not make them busy doctors? Made sense to me, aha. Don't worry, Tsukishima chapter inbound! I hope the tidbits in this one can tide you over for the time being ;) Thank you so much for your long review! :)

 **bbymojo:** "Team Mikaela" is a whole mood, I just want my girl to be happy no matter who she's with! I hope the Atsumu and Tsukishima bits in this chapter were satisfactory ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **cannotthinkofone:** Thank you kindly :) I've never tried bubble tea either and I'm almost nineteen, so I figured it's logical that Mikaela's never tried it XD I love the twins! I've been in love with them since I saw them in the manga and I'm glad they're starting to get more appreciation. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Saki:** I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE SHOW MY STORY TO IRL FRIENDS! Just thinking of people talking about my story makes me squeal XD Don't worry, not too much longer! Next chapter might be a bit rough but we'll get through it, I promise! Thank you so much for your support and your review! :D

 **Feathershade:** Yeah, it's a bit of a rough situation for both of them, but they're making the best of it. Thank you for your review! :)

 **MeganeAlpaca:** I APOLOGIZE FOR THE ANGST but what can I say, could I really detail all of this nonsense as a flashback or time skip? There's just too much of it, too much that I desperately wanted to write about XD I totally understand your feelings, I'm in love with both Tsukishima and Atsumu and want them both to have happy endings T^T Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **ice devil cat demon:** Communication is so so important in relationships, I agree! Don't worry, her wrist problems are long since over ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Okay, so I asked y'all about whether Mikaela should go to Niiyama or Karasuno and I got valid responses for both that really helped me hash out my decision. Now, I have another dilemma:**

 **Would you guys want to see the Karasuno girls win nationals in their third year? I've already got a plan in mind for the boys' team, but the girls are another story. Is it too soon to take them all the way to the top? Thinking realistically, at least. I've got some ideas planned out but I'm hesitant on whether or not to put them into motion. So I guess my question is- do you think Mikaela should win nationals? Has she come far enough for that? Or is it best to have her cut off somewhere before?**

 **Any suggestions you have would be fantastic. I know we're all dying for her to win, but I really want to hear what you guys think.**

 **I love you all so much. Thank you. :)**


	59. The Moment

**Wow, thank you so much to milkywayheartcupcake, StarlightNALU, Guest, Averi-nova, Piffthemagicdragon21, SoccerSarah01, Sayori1412, TF Volt, YoungTaoist, caiuscassiuss, Frenchie Is French, haikyuurarepairs, ScarletSea, Mads-Chikistorm, Thundqh, catlu277, KrystalCookies5, WhiteArcobaleno, yangri, ElliElver, luvielle, Aster Sipping Waterfalls, Anne Nonimus, Zoreux, Monxu Aki, JuliaSora, Saki, Inola, Guest, Pewz, Pumz, Kyion, Vylzana, anonymoose, MoonlightFox16, Yeahboyy, Daileywishaw24, DisastrousWorld, picket. fences. 07, PopperPaper, somberset, jily shiper, Guest, Choopi, cannotthinkofone, UseYourNoggin, Daffodil, NocturnalCreature998, Purplelillies2476, Animefox2002, BooRN03, deborahav, yahyahmya, kuroonavirus, windlily6370, SnowLink2, Sunny'SSideUp, 3AMPANIC, Lady of the Clouds27, badtzumaru, idioticest. person. alive, kilalanara, toshonoaimi, kitten777u, paulahp16, Walarisse, EternalMadamBlaze, thatweeb, Gloeckche, monologuingjackrabbits1, Grade. A. Gen, HuangShaotian0005, catsrock0135, Luna de Octubre, patkan777, BlueMetalXavier, and MROSEI for your support! Thank you so much!**

* * *

They lost in the Inter High finals.

The Karasuno girls found themselves up against Niiyama in the finals, and it was grueling five set match. The girls gave it their all and exhausted themselves, pulling every trick they knew out of the book, but it still wasn't enough. Niiyama had some powerful rookies, and Kinomi had improved significantly since Mikaela had played her last.

It was weird. Last year, when they'd lost to Niiyama, Mikaela had been angry about it for weeks afterwards. Now, she was content to shake hands and congratulate them on a good game. Funny how things changed.

As captain, Mikaela couldn't practice with the boys an awful lot. She was too busy trying to come up with new strategies to teach and new things to work on. Between helping everyone else on the team improve and trying to get stronger herself, she had her hands full. Luckily, she had a whole arsenal of strategies and plays from her time as manager that she was more than eager to dive into.

One late Wednesday night, Mikaela was curled up in her basement, watching a movie. Nothing out of the ordinary. What _was_ strange was the amount of texts on her phone when she checked it after the movie was done.

"What the..." Mikaela muttered, scrolling through her texts.

There were texts from twelve different people, and Mikaela's heart hammered in her chest. The last time she'd gotten this many texts, it was because that video went viral. There were texts from Yamaguchi, Atsumu, Hinata, Hiba, and a few other girls on the team. Nervously, Mikaela clicked on the oldest text- Somi.

 _ **Somi Yoruzio (19:24):**_ _Congrats Captain! This is awesome!_

 ** _Somi Yoruzio (19:24):_** _*link attached*_

Mikaela frowned and clicked on the link.

 _Volleyball Monthly?..._

Suddenly very excited, Mikaela flipped through the pages of the magazine until she got to the top players. To her delight, Kageyama was titled the number one setter in Japan. It was expected, of course. Mikaela flipped past that and to the girls' section, and when her eyes scanned the page, she screamed. "Mom! _Mom!"_

Mikaela leaped off her couch and dashed up the stairs, rounding the corner and throwing herself into her mom's office. "I'm a bit busy, Kaisha," her mother said, looking up from her computer.

"I'm number one!" Mikaela cried out, holding out her phone. She was grinning ear to ear. "I'm the number one ace in Japan!"

She didn't even wait for her mother's response- she needed to tell someone who would be just as excited as she was. Her fingers hovered over her contacts- who to call? Her thumb brushed over Atsumu's number, then Kageyama's. Mikaela steeled herself and called her boyfriend.

She was number one. In all of Japan. _Japan._

It felt like she was on cloud nine.

* * *

 _Mikaela-chan;_

 _I got the go ahead. You can play in university. The board has been informed of such._

 _Stay in touch._

 _Hujita Yahanaba_

Mikaela _screamed._

 _"Mom!"_

"Now what?!"

"I can play in university!"

Okay, now she really _was_ on cloud nine.

* * *

All the third years had to take their main rounds of exams soon afterwards. Admittedly, Mikaela put a lot more time into volleyball than studying, and her mother wasn't going to stand for it. Monomi put her onto a more rigorous study schedule, and although she complained about it, it definitely helped bring her grades up. Mikaela made it through exams with high marks, as did Tsukishima, Yachi, and Yamaguchi.

Kageyama didn't even bother. Neither did Hinata.

In a way, Mikaela was jealous. Kageyama had gotten offers from five different universities on potential scholarships, and it looked like he was going to turn all of them down and jump right into competitive volleyball. He'd been in touch with Fuki more and more often. Hinata hadn't said much about his plans, but on one movie night that they had, he mentioned something about beach volleyball.

She didn't have that sort of luxury. She couldn't _assume_ that she couldn't count on volleyball in the future.

"Damn it," Mikaela muttered, pinching her pencil between her fingers.

"How's the studying going?" her mother called from her office.

She sighed, flipping one of her pages of notes lazily. "Fantastic," she called back, pulling out her phone. There was a text from Atsumu, and she grinned, about to reply.

"You better not be on your phone!"

 _I swear, she's psychic._ Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I'm not!" she yelled, typing out a reply.

Her mother didn't reply, and no sooner had Mikaela finished typing out her response when her phone buzzed. A new notification popped in- an email. Frowning, she clicked on it and narrowed her eyes at the sender.

 _Kyoto University?_

Her eyes furiously scanned the document, reading the printing as best she could. Suddenly, she leaned back in her chair and shrieked. _"Mom!"_

She could hear her mother's footsteps as she came to kitchen, and she glared at Mikaela. "I thought I said no phone-"

"Kyoto University!" Mikaela cried with a wild grin, holding her phone out to her mom. "They sent me an email! They- they want to talk about me playing volleyball for them next year!"

The way her mother's face transitioned from mad to surprised to excited was something Mikaela would keep imprinted in her head for a long time. "Kaisha!" she said with a grin, taking the phone from her and reading over the email. "Oh, that's wonderful! A scholarship offer! Your main round exam marks were great, so they should specify how well you'd need to do on their entrance exams- ah, wonderful, you can get that easily."

"Mom, explain," Mikaela pleaded.

"You still need to pass Kyoto's entrance exams," she explained patiently, flipping through something on Mikaela's phone. "They state the marks you need to maintain your place on the volleyball team. It's lower than your primary exams, so you'd be fine- if this was where you wanted to go."

She shrugged. "I have no idea where I want to go."

Monomi grabbed a chair and pulled up next to her at the table, flipping open Mikaela's laptop. "Let's look then, shall we? This offer is going to be the first of many."

Studying forgotten, she and her mom huddled side by side, looking up university programs for at least another hour.

* * *

Things with Atsumu had been going well. A bit... _too_ well.

It wasn't like it was bad- not in any way. They kept it easy. They didn't talk about the hard stuff, like how it was getting increasingly hard to get together with Spring High qualifiers coming up for Mikaela and exams coming up for Atsumu. Like how it had been over five months- almost six- of them being together and they'd been avoiding dangerous topics. She was sure he did it just to make sure she was comfortable, but it was only a matter of time before he said something.

It was a Tuesday night. Mikaela had hopped on a train right after practice and met Atsumu in a small city halfway between Karasuno and Akita. It was their first time seeing each other in just over a week. They went out for dinner, which was fun, and Atsumu suggested a walk afterwards.

"It's nice out," Mikaela said with a hum, pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders. "Sounds good."

"Sweet. You warm enough?"

She nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

"Shall we?" Atsumu asked, extending his hand. He smirked at her. She rolled her eyes and took his hand, and he guided her towards the park that was next to the restaurant.

They made casual conversation for a bit, mostly about volleyball. Mikaela vented a bit about her team: trying to get them motivated for Spring High was a bit difficult after their loss at the Inter High. Atsumu talked about his university team. The Akita Men's Volleyball team was one of the top in Japan, and they'd been crushing most of their practice matches. He'd managed to take the starting setter spot, which was impressive for his first year.

Atsumu joked around about some of his team's antics and she laughed. "When's your next game?"

"This weekend," he said, shrugging. "I'd ask ya to come, but it's an away game."

"I'll still come," Mikaela objected.

Atsumu winced. "Well, it's another two hours away from Akita. It'd be a four hour drive for you each way."

"Oh." She sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's a bit too far."

"I can see you next weekend, though," he added, and she nodded along. They didn't get to see each other often, so they always tried to plan their next date when they got together. It made it a lot easier to smooth out the details over text or phone. "Hey, Mikaela," he said, stopping in the middle of the path. "Can we talk about something?"

Mikaela paused, turning around to face him. "Sure," she said quietly, her anxiety starting to spike.

Atsumu huffed, his smirk falling from his face. "Look, Princess," he said, jamming his hands in his pockets. "We've been at this for- what, almost six months? Somethin' like that?" Mikaela nodded slowly. "And I know we don't see each other much, but it's fun. At least, I'm having fun."

She frowned. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No! No," he objected, shaking his head. "The opposite, actually. I want to get more serious."

Her breath hitched. "More serious?" Mikaela repeated.

He nodded. "We said when we started this that we'd stay casual, but... there's been a couple points where I think we could've gone past just casual," Atsumu said, smirking slightly. "You know. I know the distance sucks, but we could make it work."

Mikaela blushed. "Well, I know, technically, it's been almost six months, but..." she trailed off. "We don't see each other all that much."

"Nah, I get that. Maybe that's why it took me so long to get around to this conversation." Atsumu frowned, his eyes focused on something to the side so that he didn't have to look at her. "And I really like you, Princess. A lot. And..." He sighed. Finally, he looked back her way. "Ah, hell, I'll throw everythin' on the table. I love you, Mikaela. Have for a while now."

Mikaela was frozen. She didn't know what to say.

"So what's stopping you?" Atsumu pushed. "What's stopping _us?_ I think this is going well."

"I, uh..." she trailed off. "Atsumu, I... I don't know what to say. This _is_ going well, and I'm having a lot of fun, but..."

"But what?" He was starting to look more frustrated, but Mikaela was still at a loss for what to do or say. "What's so bad about getting more serious? If we both love each other, and we're having fun, and..." Atsumu let his sentence drop and shrugged. "Is it me? Am I not good enough for you?"

Her jaw dropped. "No! Of course you are, you're amazing! Atsumu, you've treated me so well, and..." Mikaela was struggling to find her words. "This has been great," she said honestly. "And I love being with you."

Atsumu's eyes darkened. He didn't miss her choice of words- what she was avoiding saying. "Then say it," he said quietly.

Mikaela went quiet.

"So what is it, then?" Atsumu snapped. "What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? Because you keep saying this is going well, and you keep saying you're having fun, but that's it? We can't go past that?"

"You're kind of backing me into a corner here!" Mikaela snapped back.

He glared at her, and she felt something in her stomach curl up. "It's not like it's a hard question!" he retorted. "Either you love me or you don't, it's as easy as that!" He swung his hand out in a wide gesture of frustration. "God, Mikaela, it's like you-"

She flinched.

Atsumu froze up immediately and took a step back. Mikaela had instinctively brought her arms up in front of her face and pulled back on herself, ducking her head. Once she realized what she had done, she straightened up, dropping her hands down to her sides. She hadn't even meant to flinch like that- he hadn't been trying to hit her, she'd just reacted badly.

When she finally met his eyes, she stopped. Mikaela could see the regret written all over his face; she'd never seen him look this upset.

"Mikaela?" he said quietly, worry written all over his face.

She blinked, trying to collect herself. "Sorry," Mikaela mumbled, crossing her arms and hunching her shoulders. "I'm fine, I didn't mean-"

"I'm so sorry," Atsumu blurted out, stumbling backwards. "I didn't mean- I would _never-"_

"I know!" she interrupted. "I know, I'm sorry, I-"

This time, he cut her off. "Don't apologize. You shouldn't be... You shouldn't be apologizing. Don't. It's my fault. I'm sorry, Mikaela, I'm so sorry." He looked around, like he was worried someone was going to sneak up on them. Mikaela was trying to stop the tears from gathering in her eyes. "It's not your fault at all," he said quietly, finally meeting her eyes. "Has someone... Someone ever..."

She knew what he was trying to ask. Mikaela bit her lip and nodded. "...my mom."

Atsumu hissed through his teeth and raked a hand through his hair, looking everywhere but at her. "Christ, Princess, I... I had no idea, I'm so sorry. I would never. _Never."_ He met her eyes again, his gaze fierce. "I would never do anything like that to you."

"I know," she whispered.

He nodded, more like he was trying to assure himself than her. "Can I... Can I hug you?" Atsumu asked softly. "Is that okay?"

Mikaela nodded. He opened his arms and she stepped into them, and she sunk into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held tight, squeezing her so hard that it felt like he'd never let her go. "I'm sorry," he murmured into her hair. He didn't say it again, but Mikaela could tell he was chanting it in his head. His arms tightened around her.

She should've felt something, anything, but all she felt was numb.

It took a while, but eventually Mikaela found her voice. "Atsumu?" she murmured into his chest. He hummed to indicate that he was listening. "Can you walk me to the train station?"

She felt him stiffen. "Of course."

Reluctantly, Atsumu let go of her. He still looked upset, but now it seemed that it was mostly aimed at himself. Mikaela pursed her lips and walked with him, trying to stay side by side. It was almost like he'd zoned out. She didn't know what she could say to make him feel better- it's not like she'd ever been in this kind of situation before. It looked like it was eating him alive- he'd completely forgotten about their previous argument.

He cared about her too much. That was the problem.

When they got to the train station and Atsumu reached the furthest possible point he could get without a ticket, they both stopped. Atsumu looked a bit better, but he still looked frustrated. Mikaela felt bad, but she bet he felt worse. He had his hands in his pockets and he kept fidgeting.

"Atsumu," she said softly.

He finally looked at her.

"It's not your fault."

"Yes, it is. You-"

"No. Listen to me." Mikaela took his face in her hands and she glared at him. She felt his jaw clench under her fingers. "I'm not mad at you," she insisted firmly. "Not in the slightest. I don't blame you, either. I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I know you, Atsumu. I know you'd never do anything like that. I _know_ you."

He didn't say anything. His eyes were fogged over.

Mikaela glared at him, pushing her fingers lightly into his jaw. _"Atsumu."_

"Okay," he said quietly.

She raised her eyebrows.

Atsumu sighed, bringing his hands up to go over top of hers. "I just..." his hand dropped, and so did hers. "I wish you had told me."

Mikaela didn't know how to reply. In all honesty, it was something she'd blocked out of her memory. Plus, he had been almost two years since it last happened. She hadn't realized she'd have a conditioned reaction to it. "It's not something that comes up in casual conversation," she replied carefully. "Besides, it's... it's been a while. I thought I would've gotten over it by now."

They were quiet for a moment, and the intercom above them buzzed on to announce the train leaving in a minute. Mikaela leaned forward and hugged Atsumu again, pressing her cheek against his chest. He was uncharacteristically quiet.

"Call me tomorrow," she said as she pulled back. "Please."

He nodded. "I will. Text me when you're home."

"I will."

Mikaela turned around and headed to the train, glancing back once to make sure he was leaving. Atsumu was still standing there, and when he saw her look back, he smirked weakly. She smiled back, then turned around, getting onto the train.

She found an empty seat and sat down heavily, then pulled her knees up to her chest. She didn't know what she needed right now, but as for what she wanted? She didn't want to be alone. Mikaela fished out her phone, her eyes blurry as she flicked through contacts and pressed on one. She leaned her head against the window as her phone buzzed once, then twice, then a third time.

Weird. Kageyama normally picked up before the second ring.

It rang a fourth time, and Mikaela's heart dropped in her chest when she heard the voicemail message. _"This is Tsukishima Kei. I'm not here right now, I'll get back to you eventually."_ A beep.

Oh, holy _shit._ She'd instinctively called Tsukishima? _Tsukishima?!_

"Oh, shit," she said aloud. Then, she clapped a hand over her mouth. Wait- you could delete voicemails, right? "Can you delete voicemails?" she mused aloud, glaring at her phone. "Yeah, you can." Yes, she could- she just had to press a button at the end. She'd be fine. She could delete this, she just had to hang up. Just... hang up.

Or... what was the harm in talking? Especially if she was going to delete it? "I'm going to delete this after," Mikaela said with a sigh, "so I guess it doesn't matter what I say. In all honesty, I didn't mean to call you. I was just... on my way back, I was just with Atsumu, but..." Her throat closed up. "Oh, god. We had a fight. He wanted to make this more serious." Mikaela paused. "I don't know what I want. But then it got heated, and he reached out, and..."

Her lip trembled. "Oh, _god,_ Tsukishima, I didn't think he was going to hit me, of course I didn't. He'd never do that. But I still flinched, and... you should've seen him, he looked devastated. And the entire time..." she sighed. "Well, it wouldn't have happened if it was you. That was all I could think about."

Mikaela paused, staring out of the window of the train. Then, she pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the message. The voice popped up: _"Would you like to delete your message?"_ She hit the instructed buttons, then, _"Message deleted."_

She sighed.

 _Well, at least he didn't have to hear that._

* * *

She got offers from two other universities later that week- Osaku and Tokushima. Tokushima was _far,_ which almost immediately ruled that one out. Not just far from home, but far from a lot of the other big universities that her friends were likely to go to. Osaku was good, but Mikaela watched a lot of footage of their volleyball team and hunted through standings. They had never placed overly well.

That wasn't the point, though- Karasuno had never done well until she arrived. Right?

Kyoto was her top choice so far. When Mikaela told her mom that she wanted to focus on engineering, surprisingly, her mom took it well. "Well, it's better than the arts," she'd admitted. She knew her mom would've wanted lawyer, or maybe doctor, but the schooling required for both of those was ridiculous. Sure, engineering was time consuming too, but definitely not as much as the other two. Kyoto had a strong volleyball team, consistently in the top eight in Japan, and their engineering programs were solid.

Although, after looking further into it, Mikaela realized how much she liked Tokyo. The University of Tokyo's academics were top notch, and their volleyball team was insanely good. She had her fingers crossed.

It was at a practice on a Thursday afternoon when Mikaela got the news. She had practice with her team, and once it was over, stopped in to check on the guys. She ended up playing a few practice matches with them before they tried to wrap everything up. Most of the guys had already left, leaving only the third years- not that she minded.

"See you all tomorrow!" Hinata called as he bounded out of the gym, waving over his shoulder.

Kageyama followed, waving to Mikaela and nodding to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima before he followed Hinata out of the door. "Of course those two left before they have to clean up," Yamaguchi said with a sigh. "Tsukki! Can you help me with the net?"

Tsukishima sighed, but dragged himself over to help Yamaguchi. Mikaela laughed to herself and grabbed one of the poles, carrying it into the storage room. She came back out for the other one as Yamaguchi shoved the volleyball cart into the storage room with the net tucked in his arms. Tsukishima was heading towards the backpacks. "Too weak to carry the other one?" she called teasingly, grinning at him.

"Don't need to waste the extra energy," he called back.

"Just admit you're weak!" Mikaela joked, pulling up the other pole and carrying it to the storage room.

Tsukishima wasted no time in throwing back a retort. "Some of us have to keep the muscle for our brains, Mikaela. A pity you haven't done the same."

She carefully cradled the pole with one arm and gave him the finger, grinning as she made it into the storage room and set the pole in its place. Yamaguchi was grinning when she walked in, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "You and Tsukki have been getting along well lately," he said carefully.

Mikaela shrugged, smiling to herself. "Yeah," she said with a grin. "I'm glad. He seemed so cold for a while, I'm glad we're getting back to being friends."

There was an emotion in Yamaguchi's eyes that she couldn't quite place, but she didn't question it. She was happy with where she and Tsukishima were now- given the circumstances- and she was grateful. Did she miss him? Of course, but she was happy with Atsumu now. And he seemed happy too. Right?

At least, that's what she kept trying to convince herself.

"Your Highness!" Tsukishima called, and both Mikaela and Yamaguchi paused. "Your phone went off!"

"Who is it?" she called back, then instantly regretted it. What if it was Atsumu? Wait, that shouldn't matter- they were all cool now. But she didn't want to bring up Atsumu around Tsukishima if she could help it. That was normal, right?

There was a pause, then Tsukishima called back, "email. From University of Tokyo."

Mikaela's jaw dropped, and with it the volleyball pole. The large metal staff fell from her hands, and Yamaguchi dove to catch it. "Actually?" she cried, dashing out of the storage room and leaving Yamaguchi to put the equipment away. She ran over to the bags, where Tsukishima was holding her phone. "Wait- is this a prank? Are you kidding me?"

"Just read it, moron," Tsukishima said with a scowl, handing Mikaela her phone.

She snatched it from him and opened the email, scanning the document. As soon as her eyes landed on what she'd desperately wanted to see, one of her hands flew up to clap over her mouth. Her phone nearly fell from her hands. "They want me," she whispered, her voice muffled by her hands.

Tsukishima snorted. "You'll have to be more specific than that, idiot."

She read the words again, ensuring that she read it right. "Volleyball scholarship," she said, looking up at the blond. Her face split into a grin. "They want me to play on their- their volleyball team! Their _team!"_

"Actually?" he asked, his face twisting into a half smirk, half smile.

"Oh my god!" Mikaela screamed, suddenly pent up on adrenaline. She bounced from foot to foot, unable to hide her excitement. "I didn't think- I never expected- yes! They- that's my top choice! Oh my _god!"_

She turned back to Tsukishima and her heart jack-hammered against her rib cage when she saw he was grinning. "Congrats," he said, but he'd barely gotten the words out when Mikaela jumped at him, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. She squeezed tight, grinning like an idiot, adrenaline pumping through her brain. He smelled so, _so_ good, and he was warm- probably from sweat, but in the heat of the moment, she didn't care.

It was only when his arms wrapped around her back did she snap back to reality.

Mikaela threw herself off of Tsukishima almost as fast as she'd thrown herself onto him. "Sorry!" she squeaked out, willing herself to calm down. It felt like every part of her was tingling, but not just from the excitement of getting into the University of Tokyo. She'd just hugged Tsukishima- and not like a light hug, like a full-on tackle sort of hug.

And she'd enjoyed it way too much.

She was blushing, she knew that much- her face felt embarrassingly hot. Tsukishima wasn't blushing, exactly, but his ears were red, and he definitely looked flustered. They were both frozen, unsure of what to do or say.

"What's that? You got into Tokyo?" Mikaela turned as Yamaguchi emerged from the storage room, grinning. "Congrats, Kaisha! That's awesome!" he said proudly, grabbing her in a hug. Mikaela forced her arms to go around his back, her head still spinning. He pulled back and raised his eyebrows at her. "You good?"

"Yes," she said quickly, grabbing her backpack. "I- I need to go. I'll see you two tomorrow?"

And then she was out of the gym without looking back, her heart going a mile a minute. She inhaled sharply, finding that the air was stinging her throat. It felt like oxygen wasn't getting to her lungs. Mikaela coughed, trying to expel something from her throat, and she turned around the far side of the gym and crouched by the wall, trying to figure out how to breathe.

 _Having a panic attack over a hug? Seriously?_

But it wasn't just that, and she knew it. Mikaela pulled out her phone.

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (16:48):_** _You still with Tsukishima?_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (16:49):_** _Yeah, why? You good?_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (16:49):_** _Need help, privately_

 ** _Mikaela Kaisha (16:50):_** _Can you call me as soon as you're alone?_

 ** _Yamaguchi Tadashi (16:50):_** _Of course, give me one minute_

Mikaela exhaled shakily and pulled her knees into her chest. It had all crashed down at her at once- she'd been granted a scholarship for a top school, for volleyball, and all she'd wanted to do was hug Tsukishima. She hadn't even thought about telling Atsumu; her first thought had been Tsukishima. It always was. "Fuck," she said with a sigh, sinking into the wall.

Her phone buzzed and she answered it. "Hello?"

 _"Kaisha? It's me. You good?"_

Mikaela sighed in relief. "Tadashi, hey."

 _"What's the emergency?"_

"I need to break up with Atsumu."

There was a long pause, and Mikaela was starting to think that maybe he'd hung up on her when he finally replied. _"Actually?"_ he asked. _"That's not a spur of the moment decision, Kaisha."_

"I know," she replied, the guilt crushing her chest. "I... I need to do this. And I need help."

 _"Why don't we talk about this in person? I think that'll be much easier. And we can figure out how we should proceed with this."_

Mikaela felt herself smile when he said 'we' instead of 'you'. "Yeah. You want to come over tonight?"

 _"Sure. Is seven okay?"_

"Seven's perfect. Thanks, Yams."

 _"Anytime, Kaela. I got your back, no matter what."_

"I know."

She hung up and tucked her phone into her backpack. Mikaela pushed herself up from the wall and started her walk home, her head spinning. She had to break up with Atsumu- she'd been dragging this on for too long. She liked him, definitely; dating him was fun, he was kind to her, and he treated her well. Too well. Mikaela sighed to herself. She didn't deserve how nice he was to her.

She was still in love with Tsukishima.

Oh, god _damn_ it.

* * *

"You're breaking up with me, aren't you?"

Mikaela pursed her lips, finally looking up to meet his eyes. Her fingers were tight around her cup. "What makes you say that?"

Atsumu laughed, but there was something behind it that was... _sad,_ in a way, and it just made Mikaela feel worse. "Princess, ya call me out of the blue and say we need to talk," he said, leaning back in his seat, "and you haven't been able to look at me since ya walked in here. You haven't had any of your drink, either."

"Not thirsty," she muttered, her grip tightening.

"C'mon, Mikaela. Just spit it out."

She sighed, slumping back in her chair. "Yeah, I am," Mikaela said quietly, feeling heat behind her eyes. "I feel awful, Atsumu, I-" she cut herself off, swiping her bangs out of her eyes. "It's not fair to you if we keep this up," she said softly. "I'm sorry. I'm horrible."

Atsumu paused. "This is about what happened last week, isn't it."

"No," she defended, shaking her head. "Not at all, this is completely separate. I love you, I really do, but I... I don't think I love you the way you want me to." As soon as the words got out of her mouth, tears pricked her eyes. _Fuck._ "You've done so much for me, and I..." Mikaela sighed. "You deserve someone who can give you the same love you give them, and I'm not that person."

Atsumu snorted. "Why're you the one cryin', Princess? I'm the one being broken up with."

"Sorry," she muttered, wiping at her eyes. "I just feel like shit."

"Well, that makes two of us." Atsumu exhaled loudly, sinking further into his chair. Another wave of guilt crashed on her and Mikaela lowered her eyes. "Look, it's not like I didn't see this coming, Princess. Too good to be true." She looked up again and he shrugged. "We said we'd stay casual, didn't we?"

"I know, but that was mostly for me," Mikaela admitted.

"Fair. Hey, look at me." She let her eyes drift to land on him, and he crossed his arms. "Thanks for having a shred of human decency and doin' this in person."

She bit her lip. "It's the least I could do, I mean..." she trailed off. "Atsumu, you're one of my best friends. I don't want that to change but I... I get it if that's not possible right away."

Atsumu shrugged again, trying to be nonchalant, but Mikaela could see the hurt in his eyes. He was doing a pretty good job of masking it, to his credit, but she could still tell. She'd dated him for six months- she knew a thing or two about him. Just thinking about it made her chest hurt more. Had she really ever been totally into this from the beginning? Or had she...

"I feel like I just used you," she blurted out. "I'm sorry."

"And I still feel like the worst human being in the world for what happened last week," he shot back.

She glared at him. "I told you, that wasn't your fault."

"Doesn't matter, it still happened." She went quiet, waiting for him to continue, and he huffed out a laugh. "Didja have fun? Dating me?" Mikaela nodded slowly. "Then ya didn't use me. We both had fun, it wasn't all bad. That's all there is to it. I think it was meant to stay casual."

"I guess," she admitted. "As soon as we started thinking about getting more serious..."

"It didn't work out," he finished.

Mikaela sighed, finally taking a sip from her drink. "Are you okay? You don't seem..."

"Horribly devastated? Emotional?" Atsumu teased, but from the look in his eyes, he was feeling something close to that. "Sure, but I'm gonna wait til you're not around. That's the gentlemanly thing to do, right?"

"I guess," she said with a weak laugh.

He glanced out the window of the shop they were at, then looked back at her. "Princess," Atsumu started, his voice quiet, "it would kill me if you beat yourself up over this. So don't. M'kay?" Mikaela swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded, worried that she'd tear up again. "You can't help how you feel. Ain't nothin' I can do to change that. You're a good person."

She sighed. "Doesn't feel like it."

They were both quiet. It was the first time really had ever had an awkward silence- Atsumu had always picked up the conversation easily. She didn't blame him. It wasn't like she could've expected him to be happy about it.

"Can I..." he coughed awkwardly. "Walk you to the station?"

Mikaela blinked. It was over, just like that. Her eyes watered. "Y- Yeah. That'd be nice."

He nodded, swallowing, and stood up from the table. Mikaela followed suit, and they walked side by side down the crowded sidewalk. Mikaela's eyes were still misty but she did her best to force the tears back. He seemed fine, but Mikaela was picking up on the little things: he was walking stiffly, he wasn't looking at her, and he kept biting his lip.

Why the hell was she crying? This is what she wanted, right? _Pretty pathetic,_ she thought to herself miserably, tucking her hands into the pockets of her hoodie.

The walk in silence felt painfully long, even though the train station wasn't that far away. Mikaela exhaled shakily, trying to calm herself down. When they made it, Atsumu walked with her as far as he could without having a ticket. Mikaela glanced at the gate she was supposed to go through, then back at her boyfriend- now, ex. "Atsumu," she started.

He shook his head. "Don't say it."

Mikaela bit her lip, then nodded.

Atsumu sighed, then held out his arms. "C'mere."

She didn't hesitate- Mikaela pressed herself into his chest, sighing to herself. She felt his arms wrap around her back- probably for the last time- and her heart felt like it was dropping into her stomach.

He pulled back first, drawing his hands back to his pockets. "Take care," he said hollowly.

"Thank you," Mikaela whispered, pulling herself away.

She allowed herself one last glance, then tore her eyes away and walked through the gate and to the train. She refused to allow herself to look back, shrugging her shoulders up to her ears. _Don't look. Don't make it harder on either of you._ Mikaela squeezed her eyes shut and kept walking, only opening them to make sure she didn't run into anything. Her eyes were blurry with tears.

As soon as she got on the train, Mikaela threw herself in an empty compartment and curled up in the seat, trying to force herself to breathe. She pulled out her phone and hunted through for Yamaguchi's contact. When she'd told him she wanted to break up Atsumu, he'd helped her walk through what she wanted to say and how it was best to do it. He'd told her to call him as soon as she was done meeting Atsumu.

When he'd asked her why, she only told him she didn't feel the same anymore. He'd left it at that.

Yamaguchi picked up on the first ring. _"Kaela? Did you do it?"_

She nodded, then realized he couldn't see her and laughed weakly. "Yeah, I did," Mikaela said, feeling tears fall from her eyes. "Crap, Tadashi. I'm a mess. I was the one breaking up with him, and I was the one that was crying. I don't think that's how it's supposed to work."

 _"I'm proud of you. That's not easy."_

Mikaela sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "He seemed okay."

Yamaguchi paused. _"Well, that's good, then. Hey, you got it done. It's better than waiting and putting it off, that would've made it worse."_

She sighed. "I guess so. Thanks for all your help, Yams."

 _"Of course. Are you on your way back now?"_

"Yeah, he walked me to my train," she said, glancing around her.

 _"Did you tell him everything we talked about?"_

"Mostly. I, uh... I told him I wanted to stay friends, but it was okay if it didn't happen right away." She hiccuped. "It's like you said, right? It has to be up to him."

 _"Yeah. That's good, Kaisha. What else?"_

Mikaela shrugged. "That he deserved someone who felt the same way. And that I didn't love him in that way."

He hummed. _"That's good, that's good."_ Yamaguchi paused, waiting to see if she'd say anything back, and when she didn't, he sighed. _"Kaela?"_ he asked. _"Can I say something?"_

"Go for it."

 _"You're still in love with him, aren't you?"_ He paused. _"And I'm not talking about Miya."_

She didn't need him to clarify or repeat it. Mikaela sunk deeper into her seat, pulling the phone away from her so that Yamaguchi wouldn't hear her sigh over the phone. She squeezed her eyes shut, sending more tears falling down her cheeks. She wanted to tell him no- she wanted to scream it, yell it, write it all over herself if that would convince herself that no, she wasn't.

Mikaela choked back a sob. "It's not fair," she forced out.

There was a long sigh from over the phone. _"Oh, Kaela."_

She clapped a hand over her mouth and tucked herself up into her seat, pressing her cheek to her shoulder in an effort to dry her tears. "I don't understand," she choked. "It's been nine months. I've barely talked to him. We're not as close as we used to be, he hasn't done anything to give me any hope whatsoever. Atsumu was amazing, he really was. He was- he was everything I needed, and... and that still wasn't what I wanted. He was so good, Tadashi," she whispered, shaking her head. "So good. And I was awful. I was so selfish, and I ruined it. I ruined everything."

Yamaguchi was quiet on the other end.

"It's not fair," she repeated, wiping her eyes. "Fuck. I'm a horrible person."

 _"Don't say that."_

"It's true."

 _"No, it's not. And if I ever hear you say that again, I've going to make you do a dozen laps of flying falls,"_ Yamaguchi said firmly. _"Got it?"_

"...Yeah," she said unconvincingly.

There was sigh on the other end of the line. _"Kaisha, I'm telling you this as your best friend,"_ he said. _"You're not a horrible person. It feels bad now, but it'll get better. You broke up with someone because you didn't feel the same. Trust me, if you had let that drag on for longer, it would've been a lot worse."_

"And I did it for someone who couldn't give two shits about me," Mikaela shot back.

 _"You don't know that."_

 _Yes, I do._ The sadness seemed to give way for resentment almost instantaneously. "Thanks, Yams," she said bitterly. "I'll call you later, okay?"

 _"Wait, Kaela-"_

Mikaela hung up, turned her phone on silent, and shoved it into one of the pockets in her track pants. She sniffled to herself, wiping her eyes with the sleeves of her hoodie. "Shit," she cursed quietly, looking at how soaked her sweater sleeves were. Resentment was gone; self-pity was back.

 _It's not fair._

She cried on and off most of the way back.

* * *

Mikaela was the obvious big name on Karasuno, but the other girls were starting to get out there too.

Somi was starting to make headlines as an up-and-coming setter. She was smart, she was ruthless, and her talent shone through in every play. Despite coming off with an ankle injury during the Inter High, she was 'making headlines', so to speak. Somi had been working twice as hard as she had before, and Mikaela hoped she'd get the recognition she deserved.

Another one of the team that had started to gather some online fame was Takinihashi. Taki's blocking was on another level- she was getting close to Tsukishima's playing level. She acted pretty air-headed off the court, but her senses pulled a full one-eighty when she was at the net. Mikaela was surprised at how much she'd improved, and how much she continued to improve others. Yao, their first year middle blocker, was picking up everything she could from Taki, who was more than eager to show her. Karasuno's blocking was starting to become one of their strongest points.

Actually, in _Volleyball Monthly,_ Taki was named as one of the top ten middle blockers in Japan. Taki had cried. She'd sent a video of her sobbing to their team group chat. It had made Mikaela appreciate her team that much more.

Time seemed to fly by, and before Mikaela knew it, they were at the Spring High qualifiers. Thankfully, they ended up going well. Both Karasuno teams easily made their way to the finals, beating all the teams that stood in their way quickly and efficiently. Once again, the Karasuno girls were up against Niiyama for the ticket to nationals.

 _It's always Niiyama,_ Mikaela thought with a sigh as her team lined up on the back line of the court. She bowed with everyone else, trying to keep her mind clear. Everyone arranged themselves on the court, ready for the set to start. Mikaela locked eyes with Kinomi and smirked- one last battle between the two of them. She took the volleyball from the ref and backed up to the service line.

"Good serve!" Taki and Somi called.

Mikaela tossed the ball and ran forwards, jumping up and striking the volleyball. It rocketed towards the other side of the court and smacked into the tape of the net. Thankfully, there was enough power behind it that the ball toppled forwards, falling into the other side of the court. Niiyama had been prepared for a strong serve and had backed up too far, but Niiyama's setter, who was positioned at the net, managed to swat at it and put it in the air.

One of the Niiyama girls dove for the second touch, and a third girl spiked it over for the last hit. Mikaela received it, and Somi put it up for Taki, who put it through for their first point.

The game went on, and Kinomi was definitely a stand out player. Not only were serves cruelly strong, but she'd gotten a lot better at her aerial battles. Mikaela was going head to head with her and finding herself caught up in how much she'd improved. Kinomi seemed to be goading her on at points in the game, and Mikaela was more than happy to respond with even more ferocity.

Niiyama took the first set, 25 - 23, and Karasuno took the second, 25 - 23. The exhaustion was kicking in sooner now than in other games, and Mikaela was praying that it wouldn't go into five sets.

"Look alive, girls," Mikaela called as they went back on the court for the third set. "We're doing this in four!"

"I need a nap," Shoko grumbled as she went to set up in her spot.

The third set dragged on painfully long, but Karasuno managed to win, 27 - 25. A good chunk of that was thanks to Taki; her blocking jumped up to another level as the set went on. Mikaela still felt okay for the most part, but a lot of the other girls seemed exhausted. "Great job, ladies," she called as they trailed off the court.

"I guess we're going to five," Kinomi taunted from the other side of the net.

Mikaela grinned at her. "I'd prefer four, but if it means an extra set to kick you around, I'll take it."

Kinomi laughed. "You wish. I'm wiping the floor with you."

"Nah, I'm just getting warmed up."

Niiyama did, in fact, take the fourth set: 26 - 24. For some reason, Mikaela just felt more alive than anything. This was a great game. She could feel herself improving as the game went on. Most of her team was dragging themselves off of the court after the end of the fourth set, visibly disappointed with themselves. They'd been expecting to take it in four, apparently.

Mikaela clapped her hands. "Last one, ladies!" she cheered, helping pass out water bottles. "And this one's only to fifteen!"

"Thank god," Taki said with a groan, plopping down on the bench.

Somi moaned, falling down next to Taki. "Why are these games so _long?"_

"Isn't this fun?" Mikaela said, beaming.

 _"No,"_ came the response from the majority of her exhausted team.

Hiba sighed. "Your Captain's right, girls. We have to keep this up or Niiyama's going to trample over us. They've got the momentum here, so we need to steal that out from under them."

Mikaela nodded. "And, when we win..." she grinned. "Dinner at the new place in town. As a treat."

The girls seemed to straighten up. "They've got the best octopus," Shoko murmured, her eyes sparkling. Several girls started adding their own knowledge about the restaurant, and Mikaela grinned, pleased. That seemed to be plenty motivating enough.

The whistle blew. "Alright, girls, Mikaela's up to serve," Hiba said, clapping her hands. "Place your orders."

"Orders," Mikaela repeated blankly.

The vice-captain nodded, then smirked. "If you miss, I want the most expensive thing on the menu," she said firmly. "Alright, the rest of you, order up."

Mikaela couldn't help but laugh. As her team passed by her and headed to the court, they told her what they wanted, ranging from simple side dishes to the most complex seafood that would be on the restaurant menu. "Well, I better not miss, then," she joked with a roll of her eyes after Somi placed her order. She walked to the back line of the court, taking the volleyball from Hiba, and set up for her serve.

The whistle went. She tossed the ball up, ran, and leaped.

The smack of her palm striking the volleyball was the most satisfying sound she'd ever heard. The ball whistled over the net and abruptly plunged, dropping down to the court floor right in front of Kinomi's waiting arms. A vicious service ace. "Yes!" she yelled, pumping her fist. Her team cheered along with her. _Fourteen more points._

The game was dangerously close. Karasuno would pull ahead, then Niiyama would pull ahead. There was never more than a two points gap at any given time, and the points were dragging on for a lot longer than usual. Mikaela was starting to feel the fatigue hit her.

It was 13 - 12 for Niiyama, and Mikaela was in the center of the front row. Niiyama served and Shoko picked it up. Somi set it to her and Mikaela spiked the ball into the back corner. One of the Niiyama girls dove and received it, but it was messy. Mikaela watched the ball go up, watched the setter put it up for Kinomi, and she leaped. The ball hit her arms and fell down on Niiyama's side of the court. Block point.

"Yes!" Taki shrieked from the bench, and Mikaela grinned to herself. Tied up. Then, she noticed the gym doors.

The boys. They were all huddled into the doorway, watching the game. From the looks of how they were squashed together and settling down, they'd just gotten there. Mikaela locked eyes with Yamaguchi, then Kageyama, then Ukai. She raised her hand in a thumbs up, like a question, and Ukai flashed her one back. She knew what that meant.

"The boys won," she said aloud, her smile starting to hurt her face. "The boys won!"

The girls on the court glanced at the doorway. "Well, now we _have_ to win," Hiba said with a roll of her eyes, moving into her next position. Mikaela grinned and tore her eyes away from the gym doors, heading into her next spot.

The ball was served, and Niiyama received it. The ball went to the opposite side of the court as Mikaela, so she sprinted to join the block and make it a triple. Hiba, who was on the other side of the block, jumped slightly late. The volleyball spun off of her fingers and up into the air, back to where Mikaela had just been. _Crap._ As soon as her feet hit the floor, she dashed for the far side of the court.

Somi was there, and she got the first hit, sending it straight up. "Got it!" Mikaela yelled, her eyes trained on the ball. "Hiba!" In some sort of awkward jump and twist, Mikaela set the ball to Hiba. She landed on her right leg- her prosthetic- and her foot nearly skidded out from under her. She dropped her hands to the ground to try and catch her balance.

Thankfully, Hiba got the third hit, and the point was theirs. 14 - 13 for Karasuno. Mikaela grinned and stood up, checking to make sure she was okay. Something in her prosthetic didn't feel right, but after a quick test, it seemed to be okay. Something clicked weirdly as she stepped, but she could still walk. Her leg was still supported. Besides, there wasn't that much longer in the game- no need to sub out and check it.

 _One more point._ All they needed was one more point.

Mikaela slipped into position, trying to ignore the weird feeling in her leg. She glanced down at it again, trying to calm the queasy feeling in her stomach. No, it was fine. There was no need for concern.

At least, that was what she kept telling herself as Hiba stepped up to serve. Mikaela bit her lip, watching the ball fly over the net. Niiyama received and Kinomi hit it back over, but Shoko managed to dig it and get it up in the air. Somi moved to set, and Mikaela started her approach.

As soon as she went to jump, she felt it.

Mikaela misplaced her weight on the prosthetic and she felt her right leg buckle. She winced and stumbled, and the ball that Somi had set for went well over her head and out of bounds, putting the point up for Niiyama. "Captain!" Somi said immediately, coming up to her side. "You good?"

"Yeah," she said quickly, leaning down to grab her prosthetic. "Something... something doesn't..."

"Mikaela?" Hiba asked, coming closer to her. "Your prosthetic?"

She glanced up at her vice captain. "Do we have any time outs left?" Hiba shook her head. "Damn," she muttered under her breath. Something wasn't right, and she needed to take off her prosthetic and reattach it. If there was something wrong with it... Well, hopefully it didn't come to that.

"Ma'am, your team should take an injury sub," the referee said, "until you can address the problem."

 _There's no way in hell I'm going off._ "I'm fine," Mikaela insisted. She tried to straighten up and instead crumpled, falling to sit on the court floor. Hiba's hands steadied her and helped lower her down to the court floor. "Seriously. Twenty seconds, tops. I can fix this."

The referee looked puzzled. "Ma'am, you should sub off."

"Let her fix it." Mikaela looked up to see Kinomi, and her eyes widened in surprise. "There's no point in saying I beat you if you're not on the court for when it happened," the blonde said with a roll of her eyes, ducking under the net to her side of the court. "What can I do?"

She was oddly touched. "I need to take this off," she said. "Just like- this."

Mikaela popped her prosthetic off, trying to ignore all of the eyes on her and the whispers. "Jesus," Kinomi muttered under her breath.

"Never seen a detached prosthetic?" she teased.

"Captain, even we've never seen you without it," Somi said.

Mikaela rolled her eyes and lined the metal limb up with her leg, then carefully followed her auto-piloted method to reattach it. It clicked into place and she flexed her knee, shaking out her leg. "All good," she announced. She turned to the ref. "Sorry."

The referee nodded. "Apologies," he said awkwardly. "I've never really had to deal with something like this before."

"Fair enough." Mikaela smirked to herself. Kinomi extended a hand and she took it, pulling herself up from the floor. Mikaela squeezed her hand, then leaned forward and wrapped her other arm around her in a hug. "Thanks, Kinomi," she said gratefully. "I appreciate it."

Kinomi laughed, patting her on the back. "For what it's worth, you're my favorite rival."

"Ditto." The blonde ducked back under the net, back to her side of the court. Mikaela turned to her team. "We good to go?" she asked, surveying their expressions. For the most part, they still seemed a bit shocked, but they all seemed relieved. "What's the score, fourteen all? Two more points, then."

"You sure you're good?" Hiba asked, frowning at her.

Mikaela nodded, leaning onto her right leg. "Yep. All good here."

"Let's get this show on the road then."

"Sounds good." Mikaela glanced up at the audience, most of which were staring at her. There were plenty of whispers going around. Mikaela was reminded of her second year at the Inter High, when her leg had cramped up and they'd lost to Niiyama in the final set. She was good to stay this time- a good thing, she hoped. She wasn't about to let history repeat itself. "Let's do this!"

Niiyama served, and Shoko received. Somi, as ruthless and hectic as she was, sent the ball straight to Mikaela. The Niiyama blockers seemed surprised, because they were a half second slow. Mikaela jumped, the ball falling right where she needed it to be, and she hammered it down the line for the point. 15 - 14 for Karasuno, match point. "Nice set," she complimented, and her setter grinned.

Match point, and she was up to serve.

"No pressure, Captain," Somi said brightly, passing her the volleyball, "but we're expecting a service ace."

"Win this for us, Mikaela-senpai," Yao called from the net, grinning.

Mikaela grinned to herself and backed up behind the line, debating between her left hand or her right. No one on her team was looking at her- they all had their eyes set on the court in front of them, waiting for her serve to go over the net. It was oddly comforting, seeing the amount of trust that her teammates had in her.

She exhaled slowly as the whistle blew. Then, she tossed the ball up, ran, and jumped.

Her left palm hit the ball, and Mikaela saw it happen before it all unfolded on the court in front of her. The ball curved to the right, and although the Niiyama receiver lunged for it, she wasn't fast enough. The ball sunk into the back right corner of the court, right on the line.

The linesman called the ball in. The scorekeeper flipped the number from fifteen to sixteen. 16 - 14 for Karasuno.

They won.

 _"Yes!"_

Mikaela screamed and sunk to her knees as her teammates piled on top of her. The screams were deafening, and Mikaela felt happy tears prick her eyes. There were hands grabbing her jersey and her hair and her arms, but she didn't care. She screamed along with her teammates as the girls from the bench piled on next. They'd won. They won, they were going to nationals again.

 _We won._

Off of her service ace.

Mikaela thought back to Junior High, when she'd scored the winning point for her team and labeled that day as the best day of her life. No, that one didn't even begin to compare to how she was feeling right now.

 _This_ was the best day of her life.

* * *

 **Yay?**

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** University scholarships inbound! Lots of happy news this chapter (combined with some sad stuff but we don't talk about that). Thank you for your input and for your review! :)

 **StarlightNALU:** Ahhh thank you so much! Captain Yamaguchi was so much fun to write, I'm glad you liked him XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Guest ("I don't mind whether..."):** Thank you for your input! You brought up some good points and it helped me map some things out, thank you so much! :)

 **Averi-nova:** Hell yes, some excitement for the Walk Home scene XD Thanks for your input! Don't worry, it wasn't useless! You brought up some good points! Thank you so much for your reviews! :D

 **Piffthemagicdragon21:** Absolutely! Can't help but root for them XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **SoccerSarah01:** Thank you for your condolences :) Oh you already know what's coming, just wait... hint, chapter 62 ;) Writing the boys/girls scrimmage was so much fun and I'm so glad other people liked it as much as I did! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Sayori1412:** Aw thank you! Yeah, canonically, Yamaguchi is the captain in their third year! Kageyama was wearing number two so I assumed he was vice captain. Yeah, Atsumu just came at the wrong time... I think if Tsukishima wasn't in the picture at all, they would've worked out really well. Good old shared trauma isn't so easily overcome XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **TF Volt:** Aw thank you! Thank you for your review! :D

 **YoungTaoist:** Ahh thank you! I love writing the Mikaela-being-a-badass scenes, I have to be careful not to add too many of them, or else it seems cliche XD Oops, her relationship with Atsumu did exactly what you hoped it wouldn't: crash and burn XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **caiuscassiuss:** When I pulled the whole Tsukishima-Mikaela break up, I expected everyone to be pissed and not like Atsumu, but now it seems like there's way too many people that love Atsumu XD Sorry about that, hope you're not totally upset with me! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Frenchie Is French:** Hell yes she did! It was so much fun to write! :D Wiser words have never been spoken. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **haikyuurarepairs:** WOW. Thank you so much for such an in-depth review! You brought up everything I was thinking about, which was great because now I know I'm not crazy XD You're not wrong, angst galore! And I bet this chapter didn't help much with that, oops... Wow, thank you so much for all of your kind words, they really do make writing this story oh so worth it. Thank you so much, you're so kind! :D

 **ScarletSea:** Yeah, that was my thought process- had to see if the reviewers felt the same way. Thanks for making me feel less alone XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Mads-Chikistorm:** She really had come such a long way, eh? Sometimes I forget that myself. Thank you for your input and your review! :D

 **Thundqh:** Your profile is so cute oh my god, just had to put that out there XD My thought process exactly! Watching Mikaela destroy people is my favorite past time XD Thank you so much for your kind words and your lovely review! :)

 **catlu277:** Definitely! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **KrystalCookies5:** Won't be much longer now ;) Aw thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed binging this story! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **WhiteArcobaleno:** Aww thank you! Ahh yes I'm so glad you couldn't predict the outcome! I've been trying to avoid stereotypes and cliche endings as much as possible, but sometimes that drives me right into other cliches and such XD Your compliments are so kind, I'm so glad I could provide you with something to keep you busy! Your review matters so much, every word means the world to me :) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **yangri:** I've been trying to figure out your timezone so I can figure out when to post for you, my Canadian self is confuzzled T^T at least you finally read it at a decent time of day! Oh hell yes please tell me when you write that social media story, I'd love to read it! Bruh if I made a Mikaela-hangs-out-with-Inarizaki segment I would NEVER be able to drag myself out of Atsumu/Mikaela hell XD I hope their break up was realistic enough?! Like it kind of hurt me to write, why do I keep doing this to myself XD Thank you for your input! And thank you so much (as always!) for such a lovely review! :)

 **ElliElver:** Ahh I'm so glad you liked it, I need to put one of those in every now and then to give me my daily dose of serotonin XD Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **luvielle:** They get along sometimes, aha XD I think I've got a plan now, I've gotten a lot of feedback from other people and I think I know what I'm going to do now! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Aster Sipping Waterfalls:** We've lost another one T^T I apologize for any emotional damage I may have caused you, I hope this wasn't too upsetting. Thank you for your review, even if you're regretting it now XD

 **Anne Nonimus:** I was so excited to write Yamaguchi as captain, I'm so glad people liked it! I was as conflicted as you are, I had half a mind to make a spin-off series where she stays with Atsumu XD Yeah, the boys-versus-girls thing had a few minor glitches: you're right, the height of the nets in boys' volleyball is typically higher, boys have more muscle mass, height, etc. but it was still a lot of fun to do and a great experience for everyone. AHHH only a few more chapters to go until Tsukishima's POV, just hang on! XD Kyoyo is 100 percent a daddy's girl, you're completely right. Thank you so much for your valuable input on my dilemma, I loved reading what you have to say and it helped clear a few things up for me. Thank you so much (as always!) for your wonderful review! :D

 **Zoreux:** Iwaizumi travelling to America has given me so many ideas, I've got this whole plan mapped out for post-nationals and I'm so excited. The recent chapter make me really emotional because I know Haikyuu is coming to an end and I really don't think I'll be able to handle it T^T I'm loving every second of it but it still hurts! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Monxu Aki:** Thank you for your suggestions! I considered doing a training camp, but one of my biggest pet peeves with OC stories is too many OCs to keep track of. I've been trying veeeeery hard to limit myself to only the essentials and I hate myself whenever I have to put in a new character name, so I've been trying to keep them at a minimum. I feel like doing a training camp would need a lot of OCs, aha. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **JuliaSora:** Ahh thank you! I hope you enjoy this story! I loved writing ESCAPE, which partially inspired this one, and I'm so glad this one's become even more successful than my HxH one. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Saki:** Aw thank you! I'm glad I could make you laugh! I try for some comedic points, so I'm glad I hit them! YES draw that inspiration! Write something! I know I never would've started writing if I hadn't been inspired myself. Go for it! Thank you so much for your kind words and your review! :D

 **Inola:** Oh, it's definitely a word now ;) Aha, you hit the nail on the head- Mikaela is absolutely NOT very emotionally balanced, and sometimes as the author of my own story, I overlook that. It's always nice to have readers that can keep me grounded! Thank you for your input, your kind words, and your lovely review! :)

 **Guest ("Hi! I just..."):** I'm glad you think my writing's improved! Sometimes I reread my older stories and it takes every last bit of my willpower not to take them down XD Thanks for your suggestions, I really appreciate it! I'm so glad you're enjoying this story with your sister- I love hearing about people who share this in person because it makes my inner child squeal. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Pewz:** Well, she's the top ace in Japan, so you were right there ;) Thanks for your input and your review! :)

 **Pumz:** Well we got the university scholarships in this chapter, so not too many worries about those! Thank you for your input- you're totally right! Thank you so much for your kind words and for reminding me that no matter what happens, this story is about Mikaela. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kyion:** Mikaela's absolutely awful at feelings, you know it XD Sorry, but that tidbit of Kyoyo last chapter was the last you'll ever see of him. Maybe that's for the best, aha. I'm so glad you liked it though! As for Tsukishima, just wait- chapter 61 is going to be entirely from his perspective. Thank you for your suggestions and for your lovely review! :)

 **Vylzana:** YOU'RE SO SWEET! Thank you so much! Atsumu makes my heart so happy, I have so many extra moments of them written in my drafts that will no longer have the chance to see the light of day T^T but alas, the story must go on, no matter how much it physically pains me. Thank you so much for your suggestions and your review! :D

 **anonymoose:** Aw thank you! I'm so glad you're liking it so far, thank you for your compliments! Thank you very much for your review! :)

 **MoonlightFox16:** Oh my goodness thank you! I'm so glad you like how I portray all the individual characters because it's so hard sometimes, aha. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Yeahboyy:** Aw thank you so much! That's so sweet :) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Daileywishaw24:** I'm glad you liked the start! I hope you eventually make it here ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **DisastrousWorld:** Aha thank you! Writing Mikaela going off at people is always my favorite thing to write, so I'm glad that other people love reading it as much as I love writing it. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **picket. fences. 07:** gggggggggggggggggggggggg thanks ;)

 **PopperPaper:** Yeah, I know what she's like- I wrote her, after all ;) Thank you for your review! :D

 **somberset:** Bruh I even temporarily considered a spin off where she ends up with Atsumu but man I gotta finish this off before I even think about anything else XD But yeah, there were some key moments in there where you can tell she ain't over him. Thank you for your suggestions and input, and thank you so much for your kind review! :)

 **jily shiper:** Next chapter is that ice skating scene you suggested lmao I loved it so much that even though I already had it written, I couldn't help squeezing it in XD Thank you for your kind words, eagerly awaiting your PM! ;)

 **Guest ("Hi, so I was re-..."):** Oh my goodness thank you! Aha you caught that bit in the first chapter. Actually, when that chapter came out, I went back and edited it. That Kageyama backstory frazzled me so badly that I felt the need to make sure my story followed as tightly as possible. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Choopi:** Slow burns are the absolute worst and best at the same time, I know what you mean XD I'm so glad you're rereading this, that's such a compliment! Don't worry, an excessive amount of Tsukishima is being dealt out next chapter ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **cannotthinkofone:** Aw thank you! I'm so glad I can make your day. Don't worry, I think I've got a plan for Karasuno now! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **UseYourNoggin:** Thank you so much! I'm so glad you've been enjoying this. Thank you for your input and for your review! :)

 **Daffodil:** Don't worry, a Tsukishima POV is coming up soon! Chapter 61 ;) I was equally torn between Atsumu and Tsukishima, if this break up didn't happen soon, it wasn't going to happen and I would be screwed T^T Thank you for your input and your lovely review! :D

 **Is it wrong that I'm obsessed with interacting with you all and just want to talk to you guys T^T I want to do a live stream or something and just CHAT because you're all so NICE and so INVESTED and I just really want to talk to you allllllllllll is that so wrooooooong T-T**

 **...Could I do a live stream? Is that a thing? Would people watch it? I'm actually considering it now lmao someone stop me XD**

 **Anyways, thank you so much for your support! I'd love to hear what you thought of this roller coaster of a chapter! :D**


	60. The Gift

**Thank you so much to Sayori1412, Vylzana, luvielle, Monxu Aki, B347r1zX, hiiroeki, Piffthemagicdragon21, SoccerSarah01, yangri, Mirrorsdeath17, Guest, Since Day One, Frenchie Is French, Averi-nova, PureChaos27, Aster Sipping Waterfalls, ScarletSea, milkywayheartcupcake, StarlightNALU, KrystalCookies5, Mads-Chikistorm, Kuroonavirus, somberset, Via-lee863, caiuscassiuss, lunemi, MeganeAlpaca, Choopi, Anne Nonimus, Guest, Inola, Kyion, Zoreux, ktbelle1313, Saki, werecutietate, AkumaAura, Heart, HowlerGalaxy2800, sickofstudying, hiro213, Yeeavv, Daffodil, ILOVEYOURWORK, bbymojo, Pumz, Karoe123, RoLouA, Vergyberg, HeliosKing24, Secret-old, cookiethepookie, xAnnieG, InuNekoPrincess, Pokklipo, Thu Le1, TodoDeku1, fennec1010, satirepoet2649, IgnisFlamel, Radada44, XclosetmonsterX, Mugiwara no Natsume, redemption293, sakurayukari, JoannaBanana122, kathdng12, MROSEI, PoisonPen19, ak6tsuk1, Natsuko26, LaReineJuliette, and jmb1rdb for your wonderful support! :D**

 **It's my birthday today and we hit 800 reviews- the best present I got today. I love you all so much. This is amazing. I'm gonna cry. Please just read this chapter and stop listening to me blabber on.**

* * *

Their team worked well. That was a fact. They gelled well, kept up with each other, and managed to pummel any team that they faced through a combination of pure force and skill. They were a well-oiled machine.

At least, that was what she thought.

They were five weeks away from nationals when Mikaela realized that was not the case.

The girls had just finished a long practice. Mikaela had worked them hard, and by the end of it, most of them were ready to collapse. Mikaela was tired too- she'd still probably go for a run later, but she was just too tired to try and crash the guys' practice now. After all the nets and such were taken down and put away, she herded herself with the rest of the girls into the change room.

"Look at this," Taki said excitedly as she peeled her sweaty shirt off of her body. Somehow, she had her phone in one hand and was reading the screen as she changed. "An article about the teams to look out for in nationals."

"How do you find these so quickly?" Somi asked, sliding up next to her to glance at her phone.

"I'm subscribed to a bunch," she replied. "Hey! It's us!"

The girls all chirped in excitement, some leaning forwards to look at Taki's phone. Mikaela rolled her eyes and worked at changing out of her shorts, throwing on her sweatpants. She'd seen enough articles and social media nonsense to last a lifetime- for the most part, it seemed like everyone else couldn't quite get enough of it.

Taki read it out loud, and it wasn't really anything Mikaela hadn't heard before: a strong team, led by 'Demon' Mikaela Kaisha. She'd had a couple articles call her the One-Legged Wonder and it had made her want to vomit. She was more than a metal leg, thanks.

"...and, after a strong game against Niiyama, it looks like these girls are set to win it all," Taki finished, looking up at Mikaela with stars in her eyes. "Guys, we're famous."

"I wonder if anyone'll ask for my autograph!" Somi squealed, and Mikaela rolled her eyes.

Yao shook her head. "Oh, come on. They're all going to be too focused on Mikaela-senpai."

"Hey," Mikaela complained, but she didn't protest. How could she? Every time she did, her team just reamed her out regardless. She just had to sit there and take it. "There's really no reason they should be. You're all equally valuable to this team," she preached, nearly cringing with how cliché that sounded. "It's not like I could do any of this on my own."

Yumina snorted. "Doesn't matter how much you downplay it, everyone's jealous of you anyways."

Everyone seemed to pause. The girls did joke about it frequently- apparently popularity was an easy topic, and Mikaela was an easy target- but Yumina sounded... bitter. Hostile. She was normally soft-spoken, did things quietly and efficiently. Mikaela had heard her be angry before, but... this time it was directed at her.

Nobody seemed to know what to say, so Mikaela just forced a laugh. "Nothing to be jealous of," she said forcefully, kicking out her leg as she pulled her hoodie on.

"You're the only one that says that," Yumina said with a roll of her eyes, almost like she was unaware how tense she was making everyone. "There's not a single person here who wouldn't want your talent, your popularity, your media coverage. The rest of us barely keep up with you on the court. You're almost an idol at this point, all you need is a hot boyfriend- oh wait, you had that too."

Mikaela's jaw slipped open, but she was shocked into silence. "Yumina-chan," Hiba said quietly, "I think that's enough."

She cocked an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "What? It needed to be said."

"No, I don't think it did," the vice captain returned, her voice firm.

"But everyone's thinking it," Yumina said with a shrug.

No one else seemed to know what to say. It didn't sound like Yumina was outwardly trying to be mean; it just sounded like she was bitter. Sick and fed up with... with whatever she had a problem with. Mikaela swallowed, trying to remember that she was the captain and had to brush it off. "Well, if anyone wants their leg chopped off, be my guest," she said, lowering her tone. She tried to smile and play it off, but she already knew her smile must've looked forced.

Yumina locked eyes with her, and Mikaela was surprised to see how much resentment she held in her eyes. "There's some girls who would," she muttered. "Just saying. Your life is basically perfect."

 _Perfect?_

She'd had enough.

"Oh, yeah. Perfect. Well, maybe I should just divorce their parents while I'm at it," Mikaela snapped.

The tension in the room flew through the roof.

Yumina said nothing, but her eyebrows knit together, like she couldn't tell if Mikaela was trying to make a joke or not.

"And then I'll kill off their dad," Mikaela continued icily, trying to control her voice and keep the volume at a reasonable level. She was no longer able to control her words- they were all flowing out with no hesitation- but the least she could do was keep her voice at a reasonable volume. "And I'll have them run away from home for four months. And then I'll give them the hope that they can play at an Olympic level only for that idea to be thrown out the window," she added, her voice dangerously cold, "because they had their leg chopped off."

No one spoke. Everyone was staring at her.

Finally, her vice-captain spoke up. "Mikaela," Hiba warned.

Mikaela ignored her. "But by all means," she said angrily, standing up from the change room bench. "Be jealous. I've got the ideal life." In one last moment of rationality, she looked towards the rest of her team. "Rest up. Practice tomorrow morning."

She marched out of the change room without looking back.

* * *

Hiba called her later that night and asked to meet up at the gym. Mikaela really didn't have any choice but to oblige, so she showed up, bundled in winter gear. Hiba was sitting on the steps, doing something on her phone, but she looked up when Mikaela got near. She gave Mikaela a tight-lipped smile, so Mikaela forced one back. She sat down next to her on the steps and they stayed quiet for a minute.

Eventually, Hiba asked, "what the hell was that?"

Mikaela bristled, then forced herself to relax. "I..." she huffed, trying to figure out how best to phrase it. "Maybe I shouldn't have said it," she said begrudgingly.

"Maybe?" Hiba said incredulously, turning towards her. "You crossed a line."

" _I_ crossed a line?" she said, surprised. "Did you even hear what she was saying?"

"It doesn't matter if she was insulting every person you hold close," her vice captain snapped. "You're the captain. You can't say things like that."

"It's not like I insulted her!"

"You may as well have!"

Mikaela tightened her jaw. "So what was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know, maybe wait? Speak with her separately?" Hiba shook her head in disbelief. "Yes, Yumina said some... _things_ that may have come off as rude, or maybe a bit hostile, but-"

"Maybe?" she snapped, sitting up straighter. "You heard what she said, right?"

"Of course I did," she replied, frowning. "I just think you could've handled it better."

Mikaela sighed, leaning back against the stair and glaring up at the sky. It was grey from clouds but not quite dark yet. "Obviously, but I'm not perfect, Hiba," she said bitterly. "I think I made my point. I'm not ideal. And you can't tell me no one said I was. I know what those girls say behind my back."

Hiba pursed her lips. "It's not... bad."

"Really?" Mikaela retorted with a frown. "You think I asked for this?" She jerked out her leg.

Her vice captain glared back at her. "Mikaela, you already know you need to control your temper. You've heard that before- and don't tell me that was controlled. You could have done it so much better."

"Could've been worse," she grumbled.

"I guess so, but that doesn't change the fact that Yumina had some valid points." Mikaela opened her mouth to interject, but Hiba held out her hand. "No, you always cut in. Let me finish. You're very popular, Mikaela, not just in the volleyball world, but among our school. I've heard people talk about you in class- you're popular with the guys and it makes a lot of girls bitter."

Mikaela rolled her eyes. "Then they need to get over themselves."

Hiba frowned at her. "This is part of your issue. Mikaela, I didn't know what sort of hardships you've gone through until you had your angry rant in the change room." Mikaela pursed her lips and kept quiet. "And that's just the point- no one does. You can't blame them for assuming you're well off when you've given them no other reason to assume you're not."

She blinked. "Seriously? The fake fucking leg isn't enough?"

Her vice captain chose not to comment on her language. "The point is, you've got to apologize."

"Fine," Mikaela grumbled. "But only if she does too."

"And," Hiba continued, "you need to do it in front of the team."

"No. No way."

"Mikaela, you're the captain. You-"

"I didn't ask to be," she interrupted, turning to glare at Hiba. "You were there. I protested against Sudou. What was I supposed to do, turn it down?"

"But you are anyways!" Hiba yelled, and Mikaela shut her mouth immediately. Hiba never yelled. "It doesn't matter if you wanted this or not," she continued, standing up from the step. "You're the captain, whether you wanted to be with every fiber of your being or you were dragged into it. And that means you have to act like it! You have to suck up your pride and stop being... stop being such an idiot!"

Mikaela blinked up at her, mildly shocked. "You done?" she asked dryly.

Hiba glared daggers at her. "No. We're set to go to nationals in three weeks. In case you haven't noticed, you're the stand out on the court. Not Somi, not Taki, not me. No one attracts the attention like you do and there's no one else on our team anywhere near as threatening." Mikaela wanted to protest- Taki was much better at blocking than she was, Shoko was faster, Somi was smarter- but Hiba wouldn't let her get a word in. "You're our captain," Hiba repeated, pointing at her. "Trust me, it's not an ideal situation, especially when you're a tier above everyone else in skill level."

"I-"

"Don't try and protest, you know you're good," Hiba spat, and Mikaela shrunk back. "Yes, we're good. We're not going to nationals for no reason. But when you're so obviously at a level above everyone else, it makes people feel resentful. Bitter. Everything you saw in Yumina today. Because I guarantee, there are other girls who feel the same way."

Mikaela blinked furiously, willing herself to stay quiet.

"They respect you, Mikaela. And yes, they like you. But some of them are jealous. And you can't deny that you're not more closed off than the rest of us. You avoid casual conversation like the plague."

"I do not," she protested feebly.

Hiba raised an eyebrow. "Somi asked you what your parents did, and you said 'work'."

She sighed. "Touché."

"I'm going to tell you this as a friend," she said firmly. "What you said today? I don't think it was entirely uncalled for. You're right, the team is not entitled to any of your business. And it's fine if you're not comfortable talking about it- then just say so, don't shut us out because it's easier. As your friend, I respect your right to privacy and from what I heard today, there's a good reason for it being private."

Mikaela swallowed back whatever was building in her throat. "Hiba."

"But as your vice captain," she ranted, waving her hand, "You called out and humiliated one of your teammates. Maybe it wasn't your intention, and I understand you were trying to defend yourself, but still. You need to apologize, in front of everyone, and you need to suck up your _fucking_ pride because you are what keeps this team together!"

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Mikaela blinked, letting the words sink into her brain. Hiba was right, of course. She had a lot of pride. Too much, most of the time. It had always come back to bite her in the ass, but now it hit hard.

Hiba stood over her, breathing heavily from her rant, her cheeks red. She waited, looking for Mikaela to say something.

"You remember last year," Mikaela said eventually, tilting her head back to stare up at the clouds. Snow was starting to fall. "When Sudou and I argued at tryouts. In front of everyone."

"I remember," she murmured.

Mikaela smiled wistfully. "I was arrogant. Really arrogant, and a total asshole."

"You were."

"She was jealous, I think," she mused, thinking about Sudou. "She came at me with some sort of preconceived notion that I was going to be a stuck up brat. And, well, I was. But not because of the social media shit. God, I hated that." Mikaela sighed, letting her shoulders relax. "I remember walking away from that conversation and thinking that there was no way I was going to make the team."

Hiba stayed quiet.

"Sudou apologized," Mikaela recalled. "Cornered me at lunch. She had Kikuchi with her." She finally looked over at Hiba, smiling wryly. "It looked like Kikuchi had forced her to do it. Or dragged her into doing it. Either way, Sudou humbled herself and apologized." Mikaela sighed. "I don't know if she would've done it without Kikuchi. Maybe, maybe not.

"And I think," she continued quietly, "that's why they were a team. There were some things Sudou couldn't do without Kikuchi, and vice versa. Kikuchi kept her head on straight." Mikaela chuckled. "I think Sudou and I are more alike than I thought."

Hiba didn't reply. She eventually turned her gaze from Mikaela to look out across the yard, snow falling onto the ground below them.

Mikaela hummed to herself. "Yeah. I miss them."

"Me too," she said softly.

Mikaela stood up from the steps and glanced at Hiba, offering her a lopsided smirk. "I'll see you tomorrow morning," she said carefully. Then, she turned and walked away, heading back to the warmth and comfort of her own house.

She got it. For the first time in a while, she _understood._

* * *

"Before we start, I have something to say."

It was the start of practice the next morning, and it was tense. The girls had gotten changed and had been quieter than usual- although Mikaela suspected they were gossiping about the situation in the change room- and Yumina would either avoid eye contact or glare at her whenever she got close enough. Hiba had been right; she needed to apologize publicly if she wanted to smooth things over.

The girls all looked slightly more interested in what she had to say now. Mikaela glanced at Hiba, and her vice-captain nodded. Mikaela's hands tightened on the clipboard as she turned back to the team. "First of all," she said quickly, "thanks to Hiba for knocking some sense into me."

Hiba rolled her eyes.

Mikaela smirked, then turned back to the rest of her team. "Yumina, I'm sorry," she started, and the words kind of hurt leaving her mouth. "Your feelings are understandable and I could've handled that situation a lot better. It wasn't fair of me to call you out like that. So, I'm sorry for that."

Yumina looked surprised. Clearly, she hadn't been expecting a flat out apology in front of the team. "Thanks," Yumina mumbled, shrugging.

"And I'm sorry to the rest of you, too," Mikaela added. "It's not fair of me to assume you know anything about me when I'm, well, a closed book." She pursed her lips. "I'm going to try and be more open in the future so I'd appreciate it if you kept an open mind, because open communication isn't exactly my forte."

For the most part, her team seemed surprised. They looked to each other, then back to her and nodded.

"Alright, sweet." Mikaela turned to Hiba, and Hiba gave her a thumbs up- the apology was good. Thank god. "Let's get to practice, then. We don't have a lot of time before nationals and I need us ready to go. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded in assent.

"Great. And, uh..." she scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Would anyone be up for some team bonding stuff? We could go see a movie Friday after practice. It'll be good to get out together."

Taki's eyes lit up. "Oh! That romance movie just came out- I think it's called, 'And Then There's Me'? We could see that!"

Mikaela scrunched up her nose. Romance? Really? Wouldn't action be a much better use of their time? "We'll see when we get there," she suggested instead. "That is, if people are down for it."

"Wait, we could go to the rink!" Yao piped up, raising her hand. "The skating rink just opened up a few weeks ago!"

She got a lot of enthusiasm from the suggestion, everyone piping in on how long it had been since they had last skated and whether or not they knew where their skates were at home. "Skating sounds fun," Mikaela said reluctantly, wondering if she could dig out her mother's ice skates. "Would everyone want to do that? Friday night?"

"Definitely!" Somi chirped, and to Mikaela's relief, and lot of other girls were nodding too. "Mikaela-senpai, do you _ever_ leave the house for anything not volleyball related?"

She twitched in irritation, and Hiba laughed. "Let's practice," she said. "Then, we'll talk skating."

Mikaela sighed in relief as the girls nodded and headed toward the court. That was a giant step for her, but at least it felt like the girls would be down for doing something outside of practice. Judging by the look Hiba was shooting her, it was the perfect suggestion. She was relieved- she did _not_ want to have to try and apologize again.

You know what? That wasn't even all that bad.

* * *

"I'm home," Mikaela called as she strolled in the front door after practice that afternoon. It had gone relatively well, considering how awful it was yesterday. The apology seemed to have worked like a charm; there wasn't a hint of animosity in the change room after practice.

"Kaisha?" her mother called from her office. "Come here."

She rolled her eyes. "Give me a second." She stripped off her shoes and dropped her backpack and volleyball bag at the side, relieving herself of the burden on her shoulders. Shaking her arms out, Mikaela headed down the hallway and turned into her mom's office. The desk was almost stripped completely clean of her usual stuff, and several drawers were pried open- all empty. Her mother was crouched over a briefcase, piling documents into the file slots. "Renovating?" Mikaela asked, because that was the only option that came to mind.

Her mother looked up, then closed the briefcase and stood. She sighed. "Kaisha, I'm sorry that this is so sudden, but I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

Mikaela raised her eyebrows. "Another case? That's short notice." Her mother got called down to the city for cases all the time- she was normally gone for a few days at a time, but never longer than a week. Not like Mikaela was ever home now anyways. "Tokyo? The usual?"

"Not quite," Monomi admitted, and she sighed again. "This one's big."

"Bigger than... Tokyo?" Mikaela asked dumbly, not quite wrapping her head around what her mother was trying to say.

"Try California."

It took a second for Mikaela to recall her first year geography. "Wait- California? Like, America? The United States?" Her mother nodded. "Holy crap! That's huge! They've got a lot of lawyers out there- why would they call you?"

Monomi pursed her lips. "I was specially recommended by a colleague out there," she said carefully. "I'm going to be working on a huge case. It's supposed to be mostly under wraps, but I'm going to travel throughout America quite a bit. California and Washington, mostly. I'm going to meet the president."

Mikaela's jaw dropped. "The American _president?_ Holy shit, Mom!"

She didn't comment on her language, which was unusual, but Mikaela dismissed it without a second thought. "My flight leaves tomorrow afternoon," Monomi said, grabbing another file from her desk. "So I'll be gone by the time you get back from practice."

"Cool. When will you be back?"

"I don't know."

Mikaela stilled. "What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean exactly what I said, Kaisha. I'm going to be gone for at least a few months. There's been hints at other cases that they're going to get me to cover. With this, we'll have enough money to get you through school five times over." She smirked slightly, then her smirk fell. "So I'm not going to see you for a while."

All Mikaela could manage was a strangled, "oh."

"And," she continued, her voice becoming increasingly more cautious, "with you going to school next year, and me not home, it doesn't make sense to keep the house. So-"

"You're selling the house," Mikaela said flatly.

Monomi nodded. "I am."

"You're leaving for- for who knows how long, and you're selling the house."

"Correct."

They stared at each other in silence as Mikaela tried to wrap her head around the information that had been thrown at her. "Christ," she mumbled, pressing her palms to her temples. Her mom was leaving. She was selling the house. In a practical way, it made sense- nobody was going to be living here, after all. Why would they stay? "Okay. Okay. Oh, god."

"And I actually have a gift for you," Monomi added, "because I'd prefer for us to end our last night together on a good note. Please refrain from hating me until I catch my flight tomorrow."

She laughed weakly. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Alright. Here." Her mother pulled a folded sheet of paper out of her pocket and handed it to her. Mikaela opened it and skimmed the titles.

"A hotel?" she said skeptically.

"Check the dates."

Mikaela glanced at the dates. "...When we're at nationals," she realized, her eyes widening. She looked back up at Monomi. "Mom, this is great, but I can't just ditch my team to stay in a nice place."

"I know," Monomi agreed. "I bought out the floor."

Her jaw dropped. "You bought the _floor?"_

She nodded. "Enough rooms for everyone- your teams and the boys- to have a double room, but I got a single room for you. I figured you'd like the privacy. Or designate it to someone else, it's up to you. There's a common area on the floor with couches and a small kitchenette, so you should be well prepared. I hope that's enough."

Mikaela was still staring at the paper, slack-jawed. "Mom, I can't accept this."

Monomi shrugged. "Too late, it's already paid for."

"Mom, I..." she trailed off, blindsided by all the information in front of her. "Thank you," she managed, her fingers tightening on the paper. "I really appreciate this."

"Good," she said. "I'm glad."

"Good luck in America."

"Thank you."

They started working out the logistics of selling the house- how long Mikaela would have left in the house, what they would do with all of the furniture and such, and what Mikaela could bring with her to her dorm room. It was conversation that she'd never expected to be having.

She said goodbye to her mother the next morning. It made her a lot sadder than she expected.

(When she told Ukai about the hotel, the coach initially shot her down hard, saying that they had the budget for it, but Mikaela had just shrugged and said that it was already paid for and they should save the money for something else. Ukai offered to pay her mother back, but Mikaela deflected that idea as well. Monomi wasn't willing to take any money.

She joked that they could put the money towards investing in a better attitude for Tsukishima and Kageyama. Mikaela couldn't recall the last time she'd seen Takeda laugh like that.)

* * *

Friday night came around, and Karasuno was going skating. Originally, it was just going to be the girls, but apparently Somi made a bet with one of the first year boys about who could skate faster, and Yamaguchi thought that taking the team skating wasn't a bad idea. It ended up being a group outing, but Mikaela shifted their plans. The girls all showed up half an hour early so they still got their girl time in.

The only problem was, Mikaela couldn't skate.

The girls cheered as they skated around the arena, laughing and holding hands and occasionally falling. Mikaela hung near the edge, occasionally letting herself be towed around. But she knew that as soon as she didn't have something to hold on to, she was going to fall. So, she hung near the benches or walls and laughed as the girls skated by, enjoying themselves.

"This is awesome!" Somi whooped as she skated by, spinning around so that she was skating backwards.

"What can't Somi do?" Yumina grumbled, following close behind. Yao laughed, grabbing her hand.

Hiba rolled her eyes. "Taki, what are you doing?"

"I want to do a spin! Like Somi!" the middle blocker said brightly, trying to spin herself around.

"Dummy, you need more momentum," Somi said, circling back around. She grabbed Taki's hands and started skating backwards, pulling her along. "Keep going, keep going, and... now!" The setter let go and let Taki skate by her. The middle blocker's attempt at a spin resulted in her feet flying out from under her body and sending her sprawling across the ice.

The team burst into laughter as Taki sat up, laughing and shaking the ice shavings out of her hair. "Nice one, Taki," Mikaela said, smirking.

"Captain!" Taki called from the ice. "Come skate!"

"I will," she promised. "I like watching you guys, though."

The girls seemed to take that as an acceptable answer and resumed their skating, with Taki once again trying to get herself to spin around. Mikaela laughed to herself, shaking her head. This was a great idea; a lot of the tension seemed to have melted away.

Hiba nudged her. "The boys are here."

Mikaela glanced towards the entrance, surprised. Frankly, she hadn't expected most of the guys to show up. "Hey!" she called, waving to Yamaguchi as he stepped on the ice. "You came!"

"Yeah!" Yamaguchi beamed and skated over to them gracefully, stopping perfectly in front of them. "I sort of had to drag Tsukki, but everyone else was excited."

She raised an eyebrow. "Tobio was down for skating?"

"He and Hinata made a bet on who's going to be faster."

Hiba and Mikaela hummed in understanding. "Makes sense," Hiba said, rolling her eyes. "I'm going to go get Taki a helmet. Lord knows the girl needs it."

Mikaela waved at her vice captain as she skated away, heading in the general direction of the rest of the team. She leaned further into the wall and turned back to Yamaguchi. "You seem comfortable on the ice."

"I love skating," Yamaguchi admitted. "You?"

She shrugged. "Not really."

"Kaisha!" someone cried, and they both turned to see Hinata speeding towards them. "I can't stop!" he shouted, and Mikaela and Yamaguchi were too slow to move. Hinata plowed into both of them, taking all of them to the ground. Mikaela winced and tucked her chin into her chest, careful not to hit her head off of the ice. "Sorry!" he squeaked out, pushing himself up.

"Dumbass!" Kageyama yelled in the distance. "We didn't start yet!"

Mikaela rolled her eyes and laughed, propping herself up on her elbows. "Careful," she scolded. "No injuries."

"Yes, ma'am!" Hinata called before he skated off again.

Yamaguchi got himself to his feet, brushing the ice shavings off of his pants. "You okay, Kaela?" he asked, and she nodded. "Okay, good. We don't need anyone injured before nationals." He laughed. "Maybe this wasn't the best idea."

"It most certainly wasn't," she muttered, pushing herself up to a seated position.

"You going to skate on your ass, your Highness?" Tsukishima skated towards them and stopped next to Yamaguchi- of course he could skate, asshole- and stuck his hands in his pockets, smirking at her. "Don't tell me you don't know how to skate." Mikaela flushed but stayed quiet. As soon as she'd start to defend herself, he'd already see right through her. Too bad Tsukishima read into her silence. "You actually don't know how to skate," he said with a shit-eating grin.

"I do," she retorted, crossing her arms.

"Really? Get up then."

Mikaela glared at him from her spot on the ground. She pushed herself up, unwilling to let Tsukishima be proven right, and nearly pitched herself backwards as her skates slid forwards. Yamaguchi lunged and grabbed her, steadying her and bringing her up to her feet. "You good, Kaisha?" he asked, concerned.

She nodded, more embarrassed than anything. "Fine."

Tsukishima snorted. "How can you not skate? Even the King can skate."

"He can skate," Mikaela agreed, glancing across the rink at Kageyama, "but he can't stop."

True to her word, Kageyama zoomed across the length of the ice, neck and neck with Hinata, and they both plowed into the wall on the other side. Yamaguchi sighed. "Looks like some of the juniors want in on the action. That's not going to end well. I'll be back," he quipped, letting go of her arm and leaving her standing on her own.

Mikaela watched him skate off with pure terror in her eyes- her stability was gone. This was fine, she could stand up. Just stay balanced and don't move anywhere, right? It should've been easy, but the only ankle that she had working properly was her left. Her right leg wouldn't do what she wanted it to do; volleyball was a lot more calf and thigh, while skating needed a lot more ankle. She couldn't work her ankle properly, which wasn't helping for her balance.

Lost in her anxiety, she pitched herself forwards by accident with a yelp. Tsukishima grabbed her, pushing her back up. "God, your Highness. There's no way you can be this bad."

Despite her panic, Mikaela managed to scowl. "It's hard," she complained pathetically, her hand closing like a vice around his wrist.

"Aw," Tsukishima mocked, pulling her up to stand up straight.

"No, dumbass. My..." her voice dropped, and she sighed. "It's hard because of the prosthetic," she mumbled, hating herself for making the excuse. "I can't exactly flex my ankle properly, so I can't stop or get enough propulsion. Or stand up." Her other hand was on his bicep, and his hands were holding his elbows.

He raised an eyebrow. "There's only so much you can excuse because of the prosthetic, Mikaela."

She scowled. "Okay, so maybe I'm just bad at skating. But the prosthetic doesn't help."

"Whatever you say, your Highness."

"Asshole."

"So, will you ever consider letting me get some blood circulating into my arms?"

Mikaela flushed, lightening her hold. "Sorry."

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Idiot. Just let go and-"

"No!" she said quickly, grabbing onto him again. The blond raised his eyebrows at her, and Mikaela dropped her gaze. "I need to hold onto something," she mumbled, refusing to look at him. "Or else I'm just going to fall again. Please."

He clicked his tongue in irritation, but he seemed to soften up. "...Fine. Idiot."

"Thank you," Mikaela said gratefully, changing her grip so that she was clinging onto one of his arms. "If you make me fall, I'll kill you."

"How? You going to skate after me?"

"...Asshole."

"Careful, or I'll drop you."

"I'll tell your team you have a stuffed triceratops in your room." Tsukishima paused, caught off guard, and Mikaela backtracked immediately. "Too far, sorry. I won't, I promise." He was still silent, and she laughed. "Tsukishima! I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"I," Tsukishima uttered softly, his hold on her tightening, "am going to throw you into the wall."

Mikaela laughed. "You won't, you- _shit!"_

The blond shoved her forward and she stumbled, nearly going face-first into the wall before he grabbed her arm and tugged her back. She fell into him, almost knocking him over. "Tsukishima, you asshole!" Mikaela snapped, knowing it was just a scare tactic but unable to stop her heart from slowing down. "You asshole, you total- _total_ asshole."

Tsukishima laughed, smirking. "Your vocabulary is as large as always."

She huffed, pulling herself off of him but keeping her hands on his arm. "That was awful," she muttered, clinging to him. "I hate you."

"No, you don't," he disagreed. "Come on, are we going to skate or what?"

"Not if you keep throwing me into boards."

"I'm going to if you continue to be insufferably annoying."

"You're the annoying one here."

"You threatened my triceratops, Mikaela. That's low, even for you."

"C'mon, you know I'd never do anything like that."

"Do I? No, I don't."

"You do! I would- _Tsukishima!"_

"That was an accident."

"It was obviously _not!_ Don't you dare throw me around like that, I'll... I'll-"

"What, throw your prosthetic at me?"

"...I hate you."

"Hate you too, your Highness."

* * *

The Karasuno boys and the Karasuno girls started running more joint practices. It was good practice, and both sides really seemed to enjoy it. It always ended up being more fun than it was hard work, but no one seemed to mind; they needed to find some time to loosen up, after all.

When Ukai called them in at the end of practice, Mikaela called the Karasuno girls in too. Ukai told her he was going to take about the logistics of nationals- dates, times, first matches, etiquette. Stuff like that. It saved Mikaela having this conversation with her team, so she thought it was better for the girls to listen in on it too. It was Ukai's suggestion, weirdly enough, but she wasn't going to turn it down.

She snapped back into focus when Ukai started talking about where they were staying. "Those are the definitive dates," he said firmly, tapping his pen against his clipboard. "In past years, we've stayed at the same motel." This got several wary looks from some of the upper years. "This year, we've upgraded."

"Upgraded?" one of the Karasuno boys asked. "How so?"

Ukai glanced at Mikaela. "We're staying in the Tokushimi Hotel."

Everyone started looking at each other with excited expressions, starting to whisper. Those who didn't know about the hotel started asking those who did; hell, even Tsukishima looked mildly impressed. Kageyama glanced at her- of course, she'd told him about her mom's donation- and smirked. Mikaela rolled her eyes.

"And," Ukai said carefully, still looking at her, "well, I can't take the credit for it."

Mikaela stiffened. She'd asked to remain anonymous. _Don't you dare, Coach, don't even think about it-_

"You can thank Mikaela for that," he said, and she groaned, slapping herself in the forehead. "Sorry, kid. That kind of donation can't go unnoticed."

"Yes, it can," she grumbled, smiling weakly at the other players. A couple people patted her back or her arms, murmuring their thanks. She glared sharply at Ukai, and to her delight, he winced sheepishly. "I _told_ you I didn't want credit for that. It's not about me, it's for the team."

"No, but I needed an excuse to spend what I had invested in our living arrangements, or else the school won't give us nearly as much next year."

She blinked. "What?"

Ukai nodded to Takeda, and the teacher grinned. He turned and jogged to the storage room, vanishing inside. Mikaela looked around and nearly shuffled away when she saw everyone staring at her with knowing smiles. It was almost creepy. "Sorry, Mikaela," Ukai said, not sounding the least bit apologetic. "I spoke with both teams and they agreed that this was an acceptable use of the money."

"What?" Mikaela repeated, looking to her teammates.

Hiba smiled. "Coach told us he had extra money to spend and the idea he had."

"We didn't know _why_ he had the extra money until today," Yamaguchi added, squeezing her shoulder.

Bewildered, Mikaela looked back to Ukai. Takeda had reappeared, carrying a large black box in his arms. "Oh, no," she whispered, shaking her head. "I can't accept any gifts. Honestly, I can't. I just..."

"Get up there, Captain," Somi said brightly, smacking her on the back.

"But-"

"God, Mikaela, don't make them drag you," Tsukishima grumbled.

She glared at him, then forced herself to her feet. "Coach," Mikaela said warily as she stepped around several of the Karasuno players to get to the front. "You know I can't accept this. The hotel wasn't, really, well..."

He shrugged, smirking. "Too bad. I'm pretty sure this is non-refundable."

A few of the watching Karasuno players laughed, and Mikaela felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She _hated_ being the only one not in on something. "And you all knew about this?" she asked, and everyone nodded. She frowned at Hiba, who rolled her eyes at her. Mikaela turned to Kageyama and glared at him. "Tobio, how could you?"

He shrugged. "Easily."

"I hate you."

"Love you too."

"Mikaela," Ukai pushed, and Takeda held out the box to her. "Don't think of this as a gift, then. Think of it as an investment."

She pinched her lips in a line, and finally accepted the large box from Takeda. It felt heavy in her arms. _What the hell is it?_ "For the record, I hate you all," Mikaela quipped, glaring at the two teams. "Keeping secrets from one of your captains. Hiba, I'll be having a word with you later." She pulled the lid of the large box, setting it carefully on the ground. She pulled aside the tissue paper and paused.

"Oh," Mikaela whispered.

Inside the box was a prosthetic. Not like the one she had now- custom fit, designed to be a replica of a human calf and foot so that track pants or leggings could easily hide it. This one was a sleek bar that folded expertly into a curve. It was a pro athlete's prosthetic, the kind she saw the Olympic athletes using. It had a mold on the bottom for a shoe. Some people called them running blades.

It was the kind she looked up on her phone when she dreamed of making enough money to afford a professional one, one that she could wear to play on Team Japan- if it ever came to that. "Oh my god," she murmured, carefully balancing the box in one arm so that she could bring her free hand up to cover her mouth. Tears sprang to her eyes. "Oh my god."

"It's the best on the market," Takeda said softly. "Kageyama-kun helped us pick it out after we talked to both teams and got a unanimous agreement that we could put some money into this. We even had some people offer to pitch in."

"Besides," Ukai added, crossing his arms, "your last one nearly broke on you in the tail end of the finals, gave all of us a heart attack. We don't need another incident like that."

Mikaela couldn't even find the words to respond. She pulled it out of the box, her eyes glued to it like it was worth millions. In her heart, it was. She set the box down on the ground with the lid and turned the prosthetic over in her hands, admiring it from every angle. It was perfect. It was the best present she'd ever received.

Everyone was holding their breath expectantly, waiting for a response. "Kaela?" Yamaguchi spoke up. "You like it?"

She nodded, not trusting her voice. Tears started falling from her eyes and she wiped at them with a free hand. "I love it," she croaked. "T- Thank you all. So much. This is..." she trailed off, her voice failing her.

A scoff. "No need to get emotional, your Highness."

Mikaela let out a watery laugh. "Shut up, Tsukishima," she said with no force behind her voice. "I'm sorry, everyone, I just..." she blinked rapidly, trying to clear the water from her eyes. "This is a lot," Mikaela squeaked out. She set the prosthetic down carefully into its box, then bowed to her coach and her sensei. "Thank you so much. This means more to me than I'll ever be able to describe."

"Ah, knock it off. You deserve it," Ukai insisted. "Just don't break this one."

Despite herself, Mikaela rolled her eyes. "I didn't break this one," she protested, kicking her leg out. "It's fine."

"You deserve it, Mikaela-senpai!" Taki said, moving towards her to wrap her in a hug. "We're going to kick butt at nationals!" The other girls started nodding in agreement and swarming in to hug her, and Mikaela hugged each and every single one of them back. She was so lucky to have such an amazing team. The Karasuno boys started filing out, and after the girls had gotten their hugs in, they started heading out too.

Once she'd hugged all the girls, Mikaela had expected it to be over. So she nearly started crying again when Hinata was standing at the side with his arms out. "Kaisha!" he said brightly. "Bring it in!"

"Oh, Shoyo," she said with a happy sigh, leaning in to hug him. "Thank you."

"I'm just glad you like it," Hinata said with a laugh. "We were joking about what we'd do if you hated it. We were betting on who'd cut off their leg so that they could use it instead."

She laughed. "Who'd you all bet on? Oh, never mind, I don't want to know." Mikaela pulled back and smiled, then turned to Kageyama. "Thank you, Tobio. I still hate you."

"Whatever," he mumbled into her shoulder, squeezing her tight. "It better work."

"I'm sure it will," she promised, letting go of her cousin and turning to the next person. "Thank you so much, Hitoka-chan," Mikaela said as she hugged Yachi tightly. "I really appreciate this."

"We picked out the best one!" Yachi said eagerly, hugging her back. "I'm glad you like it, Kaisha-chan."

"How could I not? It's perfect." She smiled at Yachi as the blonde let go, and she turned to her partner in crime- at least, when it came to volleyball captaining. "Oh, Tadashi," Mikaela said, sighing once again, "I hate you so much."

Yamaguchi laughed, hugging her. "Noted. I'm just glad we picked out you liked."

Mikaela grinned, enjoying the hug. "Of course I like it. I'd be an idiot not to." She pulled back from the other captain and was surprised to see that there was still one more person waiting for her. "You too?" she asked skeptically, raising her eyebrows at the blond.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. "Of course not. You know how much I detest physical contact."

"No, you don't," she said with a laugh. She was right, of course; Tsukishima acted all tough on the outside, but she'd experienced plenty of his physical affection in private. He liked cuddling as much as she did- not that he'd ever admit it.

The implication behind her remark made both of them blush. Mikaela stood there awkwardly, not sure whether to hug him or not- and not for lack of wanting, of course. She knew Tsukishima better than a lot of people, and she knew that waiting for his permission before doing anything would be best. So when he sighed and held out his arms, she knew it was okay.

Mikaela stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around his stomach, pressing her cheek to his chest. Her heart jumped in her chest when his arms folded around her shoulders. She felt his fingers press into her back.

She was even more surprised when she was the one to pull back, stepping away from him. "Thank you," Mikaela said quietly, her eyes dropping to the ground.

Tsukishima shrugged indifferently. "It's not like I had anything to do with it. They're the ones that bought it."

"No, I mean..." she trailed off. "Never mind. Thanks, Tsukishima."

His gaze softened. He didn't reply, but the look on his face was enough for her.

Mikaela went home that day with a new leg and her shoulders lighter.

* * *

She was packing up a few boxes of some of her mother's possessions upstairs when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Mikaela assumed it was a text and kept carrying the full cardboard box across the living room, heading into the kitchen. It buzzed a second time, indicating it was a call. Mikaela carefully balanced the box in one arm and dug into her pocket for her phone, answering it without checking the caller. "Hello?"

No one replied on the other end, and she frowned. "Hello? Who is this?"

 _"What, you can't read a caller ID?"_

Mikaela was so surprised that she dropped the box. It fell onto her foot- her real foot- and she yelped. "Ow!"

 _"Now what?"_

"Tsukishima," she forced out, crouching down to the ground and gathering everything back into the box. "Sorry, I was just surprised. I had my hands full and didn't see who I was calling."

 _"You're busy?"_

"No! Not at all," Mikaela said quickly, wincing and rubbing her foot. "Ow. Dropped a box on my foot."

She could hear him smirking on the other end of the line. _"You had a fifty-fifty shot of hitting the fake one, and you didn't? Sad to say, I'm not surprised, Mikaela."_

She scowled. "Oh, shut up."

 _"Packing for nationals already? We've got over a week until then, dumbass."_

Mikaela rolled her eyes, tucking the phone between her ear and her shoulder and picking up the cardboard box. "No, moron. I'm not _that_ obsessive. Actually, I..." she trailed off. She hadn't told Tsukishima about her mom selling the house- well, the only person she'd told was Kageyama. "I'm packing up stuff in the house. We're, uh, selling it."

A pause. _"You're selling the house?"_

"Well, actually, it's sold." She set the box down on the kitchen counter and headed back into the living room to grab the next one. "My mom got a case in the United States. She left... maybe five weeks ago? And she figured that with me going to university next year and her being away for who knows how long, she may as well sell the house. She had to leave in a hurry so she didn't take much, so I'm packing up some of her stuff to send her. Or to donate, or something."

Tsukishima was quiet, which wasn't unusual, but she'd expected a snarky remark or two. _"So you've been living on your own for over a month?"_ he asked, and she hummed in agreement. _"Huh. Would've thought you'd starve by now."_

She grinned. "Oh, come on, I can cook."

 _"You'd find a way to burn water, dumbass."_

"That's called steam, Tsukishima. This is why you need a brain."

 _"Says the one who walked into the net today at practice."_

Mikaela flushed, then scowled, trying to compose herself. "I didn't- well, that has nothing to do with not having a brain, I just- I was just distracted! And besides, it's easy to miss the net, especially when you're not looking for it."

He hummed. _"Excuses, excuses."_

"Oh, shut up."

 _"No thanks. So when's the house gone?"_

"Sometime while we're at nationals, I think. Early January."

 _"Mikaela, you do realize you're going to need some sort of shelter until you graduate in March."_

"I'm well aware, thank you." Mikaela picked up another large box, straightening up when she realized it was lighter than she anticipated. "I'm going to live at Tobio's. I've already started moving my stuff in there. His parents know about it, it should be fine."

Tsukishima sighed on the other end of the line. After a bit of a pause, he asked, _"so, you're going to Tokyo, right? After we graduate?"_

She nodded. "Yep, University of Tokyo."

 _"Studying what? Basket weaving?"_

Mikaela snorted. "I'm pretty sure I'd find a way to be really bad at that. They wanted me there for volleyball so I guess it didn't really matter what I studied, but my mom would've killed me if I picked anything useless. I'm, uh..." she cleared her throat. "Engineering. I'm going to be in engineering."

She heard Tsukishima chuckle. _"They let you in for that?"_

"I'll have you know, I'm plenty smart, Tsukishima."

 _"I thought running into that net destroyed your remaining three brain cells."_

"You're hilarious. What are you taking then, since you're obviously a complete and total genius?"

 _"I'm glad you finally recognize my intellect, it took you long enough. Not that I can expect someone with barely enough brain power to get through the day to recognize intelligence."_ Mikaela rolled her eyes. _"Actually, I'm taking history."_

She grinned. "Like, dinosaurs."

 _"History refers to a number of different things, your Highness. There's literally too much to be studied in a singular lifetime. But yes, dinosaurs are included in that. Very astute observation of you."_

"That's awesome, Tsukishima. That suits you." Mikaela beamed. "What university?"

There was a short period of silence on the other end before Tsukishima finally spoke up again. _"Tokyo. University of Tokyo."_

Mikaela's eyes widened and she straightened up. "Wait, the same one as me? We're going to the same university?" Something in her chest roared at her, and Mikaela felt like she was on the moon. "That's so awesome!" she said, trying not to sound too eager. "You'll be stuck with me for another four years- wait, unless that's a bad thing? Would you want to stay friends for the next few years?"

 _More than friends,_ was what she wanted to say. _"Well, it'd be a pain in the ass to make new friends, so if I must."_

"Aw, you _know_ you want to stay friends with me."

 _"Sure, let's go with that."_

Mikaela sighed happily to herself, then stiffened, realizing she'd abandoned her task of boxing up the stuff in the living room. She shrugged to herself, deciding she no longer cared. "Hey, Tsukishima?" she asked. "Why'd you call me?"

He paused. _"...No reason."_

"You expect me to believe you called out of the blue?" she teased. "I know you too well for that, Tsukishima."

 _"Your arrogance never fails to impress me."_

"Thank you."

 _"In all honesty, Mikaela, I didn't exactly mean to call you,"_ he admitted, and she felt something in her chest sink. _"Actually, wait. Why'd you call me?"_

She blinked. "I called _you?_ When was this?"

 _"The one time you called. I was doing homework and I missed it. It was a while ago. Was... Was that important?"_

Mikaela thought for a minute, then laughed. "Tsukishima, that was back in June. That was almost six months ago, and you're calling to ask me about that _now?_ You have the worst memory, I swear."

He grumbled something that she didn't catch. _"Whatever. You can't really say anything when you literally forgot the volleyball net was in front of your face."_

She scowled. "Oh, come on, just let it go."

 _"No."_

Mikaela rolled her eyes, thinking back to when she'd gotten in that fight with Atsumu and she'd flinched. "To be honest?" she said quietly, trying to wonder how best to phrase this without scaring Tsukishima off. "I didn't mean to call you. I'd just... I had a bad day. I meant to call Kageyama and I hit your contact instead, but I didn't realize until your voice message started." She stiffened. "You... You didn't get a voice mail, did you?"

There was a pause. _"When I checked, there wasn't one there. Did you mean to leave one?"_

She breathed a sigh of relief. "No, no, that's fine." Mikaela relaxed, letting her shoulders sink back. "Thanks for calling me, Tsukishima."

 _"What, you think I'm done now?"_

"You're not?"

 _"As annoying as you are, no, not quite yet. How'd the calculus homework go? I know your answers are probably wrong but at least then I'll know what not to do."_

Mikaela laughed. No matter how much Tsukishima teased her about it, she was actually pretty good at calculus. A thought struck her and she paused. "Wait, we had calculus homework?"

A beat. _"You're such a dumbass."_

In short, Tsukishima spent the next hour coaching her through her calculus homework. She could've handled it on her own, but he helped her get through it faster. That, and she wasn't quite ready to hang up on him just yet.

Funny enough, neither was he.

* * *

Day one of nationals felt like a huge flashback, minus one thing- the people.

Last year, Mikaela had been able to reconnect some of the older guys she knew from the other teams, thanks to training camp. Now, most of the people she knew had graduated: Atsumu, Osamu, Motoya, Sakusa, Akaashi, even Kenma. She spotted Chigaya and got to say hi to him briefly, but as captain, she had to keep her team under check.

 _I'm starting to feel bad for Sudou,_ Mikaela thought to herself with a sigh as she dragged Somi along- the poor girl was getting starstruck. _I just wandered and did my own thing._

It was a bit lonely, if she was entirely honest. She missed her friends.

"Oh! That's Mikaela Kaisha!"

Well, she was still popular. Unfortunately.

Mikaela didn't know a lot of people, but a lot of people knew her. Number one ace in the country (for the girls' side, at least), and a social media 'sensation', as the press liked to call her. That, and her live interview with that shitty interviewer- she already forgot his name- had gotten a lot of media attention. So it wasn't like her fame had died down. No, that would've been much too convenient.

"Captain!" Taki squealed. "Those guys are staring at us!"

"It's the Inarizaki team," Hiba noted.

Mikaela looked over. She didn't recognize anyone, but they were all staring at her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and waved, smirking. A few of the Inarizaki boys waved back, and she turned back to her own team. "Come on, ladies. Opening ceremonies!"

"Let's go!" Yamaguchi called, lining up with Mikaela. "Stick together, Karasuno!"

"I hate captaining," she grumbled.

Yamaguchi laughed. "Sure you do. C'mon, Kaela, let's go."

The opening ceremonies went well- as well as they could, at least. Mikaela didn't remember there being so many people here last year. It felt like all eyes were on her when the Karasuno girls were announced, and she felt her anxiety spike.

 _Last chance. Last chance at nationals._

To make things even better? The Karasuno girls were the exhibition match.

"Let's hustle, ladies!" Mikaela called as soon as the ceremony finished up. "Warm ups start now!"

There were always four opening matches on center court. All four of them were normally big name teams, therefore guaranteeing high energy games. It was great way to kick off the first day. They wasn't a seeded team- the Karasuno girls hadn't advanced to the Inter High- but they were one of the favorites to win this year, so they were a great choice for one of the first games.

Not to say the Karasuno boys weren't a favorite as well, but they were seeded. Their first game wasn't until tomorrow.

"Warm up, warm up! Let's go, ladies!" she yelled as soon as they got to the court. Personally, Mikaela liked center court. With four games at once, the odds of everyone staring at her went down significantly. "Following Hiba! Let's get this show on the road!"

The Karasuno girls cheered and started their jog around the court, getting their muscles warm. Mikaela followed suit, her eyes scanning the crowd. She saw the Karasuno boys sitting in one of the first few rows, crowded together. Saeko was here with her taiko crew, setting up in the stands. Mikaela's eyes landed on Akiteru, and to her delight, he smiled widely and waved at her. She waved back, grinning.

 _We've got a game to win._

Warm ups seemed to drag on for a ridiculous amount of time, but finally, the referees sent the teams to their benches for the last minute. Mikaela sat down on the bench and grabbed the black case that she'd brought with her. She opened it up and grinned at her brand new prosthetic. "Debut time, baby," she breathed, pulling it out of the case.

The girls gathered around her, watching as she took off her custom prosthetic and popped her athletic one into place. "Alright, girls," Hiba said, clapping her hands. "Big game, lots of eyes."

"We're going to kick off nationals with a bang," Mikaela announced proudly, standing up and bouncing on her new leg. Obviously, she'd tried it in practice games, but this was her first time wearing it in an official game. "We can't afford to lose anything, so we're coming at this hard and strong. I want nothing less than your best effort. Understood?"

Her team nodded in assent. Mikaela grinned. "This is the best team I could've asked for," she said genuinely, sticking her hand into the center of the circle. "Let's do this."

"Karasuno, fight!"

The girls jogged to their positions on the court, and Mikaela walked up to the service line. She enjoyed starting off at serving; her jump serves were vicious and her accuracy had improved in leaps and bounds over the past year. She watched her team spread across the court, passing each other with quick shoulder taps and murmurs of encouragement. None of them were looking at her. She was surprised at how comforting that was.

Mikaela grinned and waited for the whistle to blow. This was it.

 _Last time at nationals. Bring it on._

* * *

They won their first game in two sets, 25 - 22 and 25 - 21. Karasuno played well as a whole, but Mikaela didn't feel like she'd played her best. _Ah, well. That's what tomorrow's for, right?_ Mikaela sighed to herself as they bowed to the crowd and she herded her team towards the stands where they could meet up with the boys. Karasuno, luckily, had a lot of support- she didn't know if they'd do as well without the cheer squad that had assembled for them.

"Great game!" Hinata cheered as the girls made it up to the stands. "You guys killed it!"

"Bring on round two!" Somi whooped, grabbing one of the first year boys in a headlock.

Hiba sighed. "Somi, leave the boys alone!"

"Great job," Kageyama said, smirking at her.

Mikaela scoffed. "Hardly," she muttered once she was sure none of the girls on her team were listening. "I didn't play that well. Kind of sucks for an exhibition match." She shook her head. "I hope tomorrow's better."

"Is it the prosthetic?" her cousin asked, frowning at her.

"No, that's fine," she objected. "It's perfect, honestly. Although I think I'm still getting used to how... springy it is. It has a lot more bounce than my other one." Mikaela shrugged. "I'll figure it out. Hopefully it won't take much longer."

"You going to break this one too?" Tsukishima said with a scoff.

She glared at him. "I didn't break the other one, it's fine!" She kicked out her leg; she'd traded her athletic one back for her usual one as soon as the game had ended. "See? It's fine."

"Until it breaks again."

"You're such a pessimist."

"And I care why?"

"Kaisha!" Yamaguchi called, breaking up their argument. "Nice job! How's the prosthetic?"

"Great!" she called back. It wasn't entirely a lie; it was everything she'd dreamed of it being. She just wasn't used to it yet. Using it in practice was different than using it in a real game. "When're we leaving?"

He shrugged. "Coach said in an hour or two."

Tsukishima snorted. "So we have to put up with people staring at us for at least an hour."

"People aren't staring," Mikaela objected.

Kageyama and Tsukishima exchanged a glance. Yamaguchi winced and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Kaisha, everyone who walks by is staring at us," he said gently. "Well, I won't lie, a lot of it's you. You're more popular than ever." Kageyama nodded in agreement.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not just me. You're all attractive guys, I bet all the girls are staring at you."

Tsukishima snorted, jerking his chin at the setter. "As if people would stare at this idiot."

"Hey!" Kageyama complained.

"I'll take that as an insult, considering we look identical," Mikaela quipped.

"You both look like the human versions of raccoons."

Mikaela and Kageyama both glared at Tsukishima, and that was enough to make him shift back slightly. Barely, but enough to let Mikaela know they unnerved him. "Asshole," she said with a roll of her eyes, knowing he wasn't serious. "You're literally a giraffe, you have no room to talk."

"Still comparing people to animals?"

She knew that voice. Mikaela turned around and her jaw dropped when she saw Kuroo standing behind them. He was wearing his old Nekoma jacket, and his hair was as unruly as she remembered it being two years ago- if anything, it was longer than it used to be. He shrugged casually, smirking. "Heyo, Temper-chan. How've you- _oomph!"_

She tackled him around the waist, hugging him so hard that she might've broken a rib. Kuroo heaved out a breath, winded, and she pulled back, glaring up at him. "You idiot!" she said, punching him lightly in the ribs. "It's been so long!"

Kuroo winced and rubbed his rib cage. "You're as violent as always, I see."

Mikaela laughed and hugged him again- much more gentle than the last one. "I missed you, moron," she said after she pulled back quickly, grinning. "Why haven't you come to visit me yet? Did you watch the whole game? What'd you think? How's university? How's-"

"Slow down, kiddo," the ex-Nekoma captain said with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, I saw the game. You're not as bad as I thought you'd be."

"That was one of my bad games, there's so many better ones out there that you could watch." She grinned. "How's school? What university are you at again?"

"Tokyo," Kuroo said proudly, jamming his hands into his pockets.

Her eyes widened. "That's where I'm going next year!"

He straightened up, his eyes lighting up. "To play volleyball?" When she nodded, he laughed and reached a hand out to ruffle her hair. "Not bad, kiddo. Not half bad. I'm on the team at the university too, actually. What program?"

 _Kuroo's on the team too?_ Mikaela beamed. "Engineering!"

"No fricking way." Kuroo's smirk went wider than she'd ever seen it. "That's what I'm in."

Her eyes lit up. "I'm going to be your junior?!"

"Oh, I'm _so_ going to initiate you."

"Kuroo!" Mikaela lunged at him and hugged him again, and this time he finally returned it, awkwardly patting her back. "Oh, that's awesome! You can teach me all the crap I don't understand." Before he could protest, Mikaela spun around to face her team, who had been chattering with each other and the boys but had started looking over when Kuroo had arrived. "Guys!" Mikaela chirped brightly, shoving Kuroo in front of her. "This is Kuroo Tetsurō, he was the captain of the Nekoma team two years ago."

Murmured greetings echoed from the Karasuno crowd, and Kuroo waved coyly. "I hope you're all harassing your captain as much as she deserves."

"Asshole," she said with a scowl.

"Kuroo-san," Kageyama said with a nod. Hinata waved from behind him.

Kuroo nodded to them, but his eyes fell on Tsukishima. "Oya, Tsukki," he teased, smirking at the blond. "You still as unmotivated as always?"

"You're still as frustrating as always?" Tsukishima retorted with a tired sigh.

"Aw, missed you too, Tsukishima," he said with a grin.

The blond rolled his eyes. "If I had known you were at Tokyo, I wouldn't have decided to go there."

Kuroo's grin widened, and his eyes flickered from Tsukishima to Mikaela and back again. "Ooooh~" he trilled, and Mikaela felt herself blush. "I see, I see. Don't they tell you not to pick your future based off of your friends, Tsukki? Or, rather, girlfriends?"

Mikaela tried to think of every single religion she knew of and thanked every single god that came to mind that no one on her team had overheard that; they were all caught up in their own conversations. It looked like a couple of the boys had overheard, but the only ones that understood were the third years. To Mikaela's surprise, Tsukishima's cheeks tinged pink and he fixed Kuroo with a steely gaze. "I didn't," he snapped, adjusting his glasses. "I have a future to be concerned about, thanks."

"Ah, Kuroo-san," Yamaguchi said brightly, determined to change the subject. "What's university like?"

Kuroo started chatting with Yamaguchi and Hinata, and Mikaela risked a glance back at Tsukishima. He was fixing his glasses, his eyes trained down at the ground, and Mikaela was caught admiring how much his hair had grown. It was longer and wavier, and fell into his eyes. It suited him- Mikaela found herself wondering if she would ever get the chance to run her fingers through his hair.

She still loved him. It was obvious. But it had been two years since they'd first gotten together, over a year since they'd broken up, less than a year since they'd started talking again, and six months since they'd come close to being best friends again.

And it still wasn't enough. Not for her. But it was impossible, right?

Tsukishima looked up and locked eyes with her. In a rare moment of courage, she smiled at him. Mikaela was sure her cheeks were red, from both embarrassment and sweat, and she must've looked like a mess after just coming back from her game. Definitely a bad moment.

To her surprise, he smiled back. Something in her chest fluttered.

 _Maybe it's not impossible after all._

* * *

 **...Guess what?! Next chapter's the Tsukishima POV! :D**

 **And side note- today's my birthday! I turned 19 today! :D**

 **Definitely should've split this chapter in two. Twelve thousand words before review answers, and so much going on: big team argument, skating, new prosthetic, Mom leaving, phone call, nationals, Kuroo... Geez. Where is my self-control? Nowhere to be found.**

 **Sayori1412:** Give it some time, you'll see them talk in future chapters! :) Yeah, that was just the Spring High! Weird how time goes! And yes, this is going to go beyond high school! I'm going to follow this as far as I can! :D Thanks for your suggestions and your praise, you've been such a consistent reviewer since the beginning! Check my note at the bottom for live stream info ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Vylzana:** I'm so sorry T^T Yes, The Breakup should be capitalized, I agree. Aw, I'm so glad you liked the angst and the happiness and the whole mess of emotions! I reread my chapter and actually laughed because of how many different emotions I flew through XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **luvielle:** Technically this doesn't count as crying over an anime boy, right? ...Right? Yamaguchi is a blessing to the world! And I'm glad you sort of like Kinomi now, I was trying to show some character development :D Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Monxu Aki:** Yep, nationals started in this chapter! I'm super excited to go through with it! Ah don't worry, Atsumu will make more appearance later, and even if they weren't meant to be together they'll still be friends :) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **B347r1zX:** I'M SORRYYYYY BUT WE ALL KNEW IT HAD TO HAPPEN :( I based part of Mikaela's break up feelings off of personal experience and rereading it huuuuurt T^T Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **hiiroeki:** AHHHH THANK YOU! Your praise is so so welcome and does wonders for my heart T^T I'm so glad you love the volleyball scenes, I sometimes worry that I don't put enough effort into those because I'm always working on her interactions with other characters. Live stream?! Check my note at the bottom ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Piffthemagicdragon21:** Yeah, me too! Every time I reread it or reread their moments together, it makes me regret breaking them up :/ ah, well, what's done is done. Thank you for your review! :D

 **SoccerSarah01:** I'm so glad you thought the flinch scene was well written! I've had something similar to that planned out for a while, but initially I'd thought it would've been with Tsukishima. It worked out better with Atsumu in the end. Thank you for the suggestion about Discord! Unfortunately Discord doesn't work very well for me- I constantly glitch out or lose connection. I think I've got an idea- check my note at the bottom ;) Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **yangri:** I feel like we may have had similar experiences with partners because those feelings I wrote for Mikaela came from the depths of my heart, driven by past experience. I think that's what makes it hurt more. Bruh, if she kept losing because of leg issues I'd abandon this story myself XD Yeah, I think the last few chapters of her in her last years of high school has helped me realize that she's grown up and this story can come to a comfortable ending. You're in Australia! My mission is now to pick a live stream time that works for Australia (check my note at the bottom, aha). Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Mirrorsdeath17:** Ohhh don't tempt me, I'm very close to doing so XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Since Day One:** I'm speechless. I figured there'd be people who have been here for a while but this is the first time I've heard from someone who's been here since Warriors! Thank you so so much, for bearing with me during my awkward teenage writing years. You're so kind, I'm so glad you've enjoyed what I've been putting out. If I inspired you to watch Hunter x Hunter and Haikyuu, then that's an absolute win on both ends. Thank you so much for your continuous support and for your review! :D

 **Frenchie Is French:** Yeah, it hurt to write but it would've been unfair for her to hide that from him for much longer :( I'm glad you liked the chapter! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Averi-nova:** Ahh I'm glad you liked that bit! The Oikawa reference had to be thrown in there XD Yes, TsukiMika is back on track and I hope you liked all the cute bits in this chapter! Aha yes now we're at nationals! And I think I am going to do a live stream, check my note at the bottom! Thank you so much for all of your support and your review! :D

 **PureChaos27:** There were a surprising amount of people rooting for Atsumu, I never expected it XD Thank you so much for your kind words! Break ups are so difficult to write and there's so many different ways they can go, so I'm glad you thought it was done well! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Aster Sipping Waterfalls:** I apologize T^T I am going to do my best to make the sacrifice worth it! Just hang in there a little longer! Thank you for your review! :D

 **ScarletSea:** It feels like it didn't last that long because it was legit two chapters, but that was actually six months XD I would've loved to slow it all down, but that's a bit too much, even for me. Tsukishima and Mikaela's relationship wasn't much longer- only eight. And this chapter alone spanned about two months. Weird how time works. Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **milkywayheartcupcake:** Ahh yes! So much going on! Oh you already know she's going to run into Atsumu, guaranteed ;) I live for drama! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **StarlightNALU:** Trust me when I say it wasn't easy to write :( being honest is so, so much harder than I can portray through writing, no matter how much preparation you do. Ask and ye shall be heard- next chapter is entirely Tsukishima's point of view! :D Ahh some more Yamaguchi appreciation, we love to see it! Thank you so much for your compliments and your enthusiasm to this story, and thank you so much for your review! :)

 **KrystalCookies5:** Everyone loves delicious food ;) and trust me, they all definitely went out for the best food in town after winning that game. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Mads-Chikistorm:** Ahh thank you! I'm so glad you liked it, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Kuroonavirus:** Aw thank you! That's so kind of you T^T Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **somberset:** "it felt like she was breaking up with me too" BRO that was me T^T I have an archive of AtsumuXMikaela scenes that will never see the light of day now and that makes me so sad, oh my goodness. You literally expressed all of my exact emotions- that's it, your review wins XD Sometimes I forget how far she's come and how much she's accomplished. Thank you for reminding me! This girl writes herself XD If it helps, I'm now 19 today and this story is still my biggest accomplishment XD I was very privileged to grow up with the family I did and I never realized how normalized some behaviors were until people reacted to those chapters in particular. Live stream?! Ahhh yay, note at the bottom! I'm planning for your timezone! :D Thank you so so much for your long review! :)

 **Via-lee863:** My apologies, it had to be done T^T Thanks for your review! :D

 **caiuscassiuss:** Not selfish at all- there was a lot of her development this chapter, and although next chapter's a Tsukishima-centered chapter, there's going to be a lot of personal development over the course of nationals. Thanks for sticking around, thank you for your review! :)

 **lunemi:** Yamaguchi deserves the world, I'm so glad I could harness his character in this story! Trust me, it's been so difficult going back and forth between Tsukishima and Atsumu, I think it's caused me scarring emotional pain XD I'm so glad you're invested! Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review! :D

 **MeganeAlpaca:** I FEEL ALL OF YOUR PAIN, I PROMISE YOU. Breaking those two up hurt just as bad (if not worse) than breaking up Tsukishima and Mikaela a few chapters prior. I'm torn just like you are XD Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Choopi:** Aw thank you! I'd love to write a book but I think my forte lies in fanfictions XD Thank you for your kind words and your review! :D

 **Anne Nonimus:** Oh my goodness, I hope you're okay! :( Stomachaches are awful, and although I'm sure yours is long gone by now (I hope so, at least), I hope you're feeling better. I never expected such a serious emotional reaction from that chapter and I don't know if I'm flattered or just completely concerned. I hope you're doing alright and feel free to message me anytime! :)

 **Guest:** Next chapter ;)

 **Inola:** Ah, when I asked that question, I meant about winning nationals! That was just their Spring High qualifiers. I'm thankful for your input regardless. I'm glad you're liking the mother-daughter interaction! I feel like it gets overshadowed by her relationships with Atsumu and Tsukishima, so I'm glad some people still recognize it and appreciate it :) I'm planning a live stream! Check my note at the end of the chapter! And thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Kyion:** Next chapter! It's so close yet so far! XD I think I'm going to do a live stream! Check my note at the bottom of the chapter :) Thank you so much for your support and your review! :)

 **Zoreux:** Ahh thank you! So much to be excited about in the last chapter but I think all some people cared about was the break up XD Thank you so much for your support and your review! :D

 **ktbelle1313:** Aw thank you! You're so kind, your compliments are so sweet T^T Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Saki:** Dude (or girl?), I would LOVE to give Atsumu a huge hug. He's such a teddy bear, I swear. I'm so glad you liked it! I think I am going to do a live stream- check my note at the bottom of the chapter! Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **werecutietate:** Oh my goodness thank you! You're too sweet, thank you so much for all of your kind words! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **AkumaAura:** Six hours straight of reading?! You deserve a trophy XD Thank you so much for reading all the way through! I totally respect skipping some games- don't spoil the experience for yourself! :) Thank you so much for your kind words and your lovely review! :D

 **Heart:** I'M SO SORRY please forgive me T^T Thank you so much though! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **HowlerGalaxy2800:** I'm so sorry, I hope you've emotionally recovered T^T thank you for reviewing! :D

 **sickofstudying:** Ah thank you! Yes, I'm a sucker for drama, so we all know it had to happen XD Thank you for your review! :)

 **hiro213:** Ah awesome! I'm so glad you made it to this point in this fic! I'm so grateful for your compliments, thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying this, it really makes it worth writing. Thank you so much for your support and thank you for your review! :D

 **Yeeavv:** I'm sorry T^T But thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it, thank you so much for your review! :)

 **Daffodil:** Ahh it did! Next chapter's the Tsukishima perspective ;) Atsumu really crushed my heart, it hurt way more than I expected it to when I broke them up. Almost considered leaving them together... almost. I think I've going to try to organize the live stream through an Instagram page! Check my note at the bottom. Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **ILOVEYOURWORK:** IT'S COMING I PROMISE JUST HOLD ON A LITTLE BIT LONGER IT'LL BE OKAY! I hope this chapter had enough light and fluffy moments to get you through! Don't worry, more good to come! Thank you so much for your review! :)

 **bbymojo:** I apologize for the emotions I may have invoked T^T Aha there's a very long line for Atsumu... and I'm at the front, yikes this boy has my heart XD Character growth is definitely good! And it'll get better- just wait for it! ;) Thank you so much for your review! :D

 **Pumz:** Aw, thank you so much! I wouldn't mind doing a small romantic fling for Tobio but I have a hard enough time writing a softer side of him for Mikaela, I don't think I have the talent to pull off a romantic side as well XD Regardless, thank you for your kindness and your review! :)

 **So, live stream. I thought that it would be best if I organized it on something I could update more than once every other week- so I did it. I made an Instagram page. The username is the same as my account- duchess_frost ! Ahh this is exciting!**

 **My plan, though? Looking like Sunday for a live stream! I've got a survey on my Instagram page- put in your timezone so I know when best to do it! :D I'm so so excited to meet you guys!**

 **Stay safe and happy reading!~**


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